Agudath Israel of America (Hebrew: אגודת ישראל באמריקה; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews.

Agudah serves as a leadership and policy umbrella organization for Haredi Jews in the United States, representing the vast majority of members of the yeshiva world, sometimes known by the old label of misnagdim, as well as a large number of Hasidic groups.

For example, the Hasidic group Satmar, which is vehemently anti-Zionist, dislikes Agudah's relatively moderate stance towards the State of Israel.

[citation needed] Mike Tress led the expansion of the movement during the early 1940s as its chief lay leader, until his death in 1967.

In 2008, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, having served Agudah as general counsel and director of government affairs,[21] took over as Executive Vice-President.

[1] In April 2020, Agudath Israel of America head Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe, 89 years old, died after contracting COVID-19, one month after he urged American Orthodox Jews to follow social distancing and other precautionary guidelines in response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying: "We cannot behave the way we did last week or two weeks ago.

[27] Rabbi Yaakov Perlow (recently deceased), who was the Novominsker Rebbe and a member of the Moetzes, was appointed as the Rosh Agudat Yisrael ("Head of Agudath Israel").

[9] The Agudah takes positions on many political, religious, and social issues, primarily guided by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.

It uses these stances to advise its members, advocate for its constituency in the halls of government, and file amicus briefs on behalf of the Haredi Orthodox Jewish community in the United States.

[42] The reason given was that "the parliament is not an ideological organization; its purpose is to perform the mundane task of running the everyday life of the citizens of the country.

Agudath Israel's federal activities are coordinated by Rabbi Abba Cohen, the Director and Counsel of the organization's Washington, D.C. office.

Agudah was the first Orthodox Jewish group to open an office in Washington, in 1988, and maintains ongoing relations with the White House and executive agencies, as well as with the U.S. Congress, on various domestic and foreign issues.