Political organization founded in France in 1860 for the purpose of providing assistance to Jews. Its founders were a group of French Jews who had the resources to help those who were poor, offering political support, helping individuals emigrate, and eventually setting up Jewish education programs in eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. In 1945 it expressed support for political Zionism (the establishment of a Jewish state), and in 1946 its diplomatic activities were taken over by the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations in New York City.