American Jewish Committee Establishes Pacific Rim Institute

The American Jewish Committee announced Friday that it has established a Pacific Rim Institute in Los Angeles to promote better understanding of Jews by Asian-Americans and the economically strong countries of the region.

“We have noticed manifestations of anti-Jewish sentiment in such nations as Japan, China and Korea, among others,” said Bruce M. Ramer of Los Angeles, national board chairman of the American Jewish Committee who was appointed the first institute chairman.

Asia is supplanting Europe in economic importance and as a leading source of immigrants, Ramer said during the meeting of the American Jewish Committee’s National Executive Council this week in Beverly Hills.

“As a result of changes in U.S. immigration and refugee policy,” Ramer said, “there are now just as many people of Asian background living in the United States as there are Jews.”

Neil Sandberg, the longtime Western regional director for the American Jewish Committee in Los Angeles, was named the institute’s director and will assume the new job full time in March.