Despite the New Jewish Agenda's emphasis on multi-issue organizing, The Middle East Task Force (METF) was central to NJA's work. NJA joined a field that was still deeply controversial and heated within the Jewish community. NJA was the only American Jewish organization that clearly opposed the 1982 Lebanon War from its onset. In June 1982, shortly after Agenda's founding, NJA took out a full-page New York Times ad criticizing and denouncing the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Local chapters were able to mobilize first, including a public statement by NJA's Washington DC chapter two days after the June 6th Israeli invasion of Lebanon, a statement and protest vigil by the Massachusetts chapter, and a City Hall protest by Philadelphia NJA. NJA also organized town meetings featuring foreign policy expert Noam Chomsky.