The Jewish Leadership Conference (JLC) aims to develop a new political and cultural vision for American Jewry, and to bring together Jews who believe that conservative ideas can help strengthen the Jewish people, the Jewish nation, and the American civic future.
In December 2017 the JLC convened our inaugural conference on Jews and Conservatism, followed by ever larger gatherings of Jewish patriots in 2018 and 2019. Along with political leaders and rabbis, journalists and commentators, educators and activists, we came together in the belief that now is the time for American Jews to articulate and advance a new agenda: in defense of religious freedom, in favor of school choice, allied with Israel in a dangerous world, tough-minded in the global fight against anti-Semitism, and supportive of the traditional family.
We invite everyone who is interested in these ideas to learn more about our core principles, watch videos from our past conferences, and read our inaugural essay from the May 2017 issue of Commentary Magazine, “Jewish Conservatism: A Manifesto.”
If you are interested in learning more about the activities of the JLC, we encourage you to sign up for email updates. The JLC is a project of the Tikvah Fund—to learn more about Tikvah’s work, click here to view our annual report or visit our website here.
Conference Co-Chairs
Elliott Abrams
Elliott Abrams is the chairman of the Tikvah Fund, as well as chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.. He served as Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for the Near East and North Africa in the first term of George W. Bush, and as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor in the second term. In the Trump administration he served in the State Department as Special Representative for Iran and for Venezuela. He is the author of Undue Process, Security and Sacrifice, and Faith or Fear, and writes widely on U.S. foreign policy with special focus on the Middle East and the issues of democracy and human rights. His most recent book is Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Policy After the Arab Spring.
Eric Cohen
Eric Cohen has been the executive director of the Tikvah Fund since 2007. He was the founder and remains editor-at-large of the New Atlantis, founding publisher of the Jewish Review of Books and Mosaic, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Witherspoon Institute, and National Affairs and on the Editorial Advisory Board of First Things. Mr. Cohen has published in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Mosaic, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, First Things, and numerous others. He is the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology (2008) and co-editor of The Future is Now: America Confronts the New Genetics (2002). He was previously managing editor of the Public Interest and served as a senior consultant to the President’s Council on Bioethics.
Jonathan Silver
Jonathan Silver is the editor of Mosaic, host of the Tikvah Podcast, and from 2018–2020, served as the executive director of the Jewish Leadership Conference. He was educated at Tufts University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Georgetown University.
Executive Director
Alexandra Rosenberg
Alexandra Rosenberg is the executive director of the Jewish Leadership Conference and the senior director of development at the Tikvah Fund. She is responsible for a broad array of development efforts, including overseeing the JLC and related community-building efforts, expanding charitable support, and managing donor relations. Prior to joining Tikvah in January 2022, Alex spent nearly seven years at National Review Institute—the nonprofit parent organization of National Review magazine—helping lead their development and events departments. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.