For decades, Diaspora Jews have channelled funds to Israel to support its survival. Now it seems that Israel is prepared to reciprocate.
Last week, in a speech to the Jewish Agency’s board of governors
meeting in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that
it was time for Israel to “change the paradigm of relations between the
State of Israel and the Diaspora.”
Olmert said the time has come for Israel to take a more prominent role in the Diaspora-Israel partnership, stressing that world Jewry faces “a serious crisis… Precisely at a time when the State of Israel is flourishing, the Jewish People outside Israel meets unprecedented challenges.”
Among other things, those challenges include increased assimilation and intermarriage rates, as well as a decrease in Jews’ self-identification as Zionists, he noted.
“The old paradigm of the Diaspora as benefactor and Israel as beneficiary may no longer continue. For the past 60 years, Israel has been the project of the Jewish People. For the next 60 years, the Jewish People will need to be the joint project of Israel and Jewish communities around the world,” he said.
Israel’s main goals, Olmert said, should now be “to strengthen Jewish education in Jewish communities, including the study of Hebrew; increase awareness regarding Jewish culture and heritage; instil Jewish values; and deepen the links between world Jewish communities and the State of Israel,” and for Israel to assume greater responsibility for the Jewish future worldwide, since Israel is now the home to the world’s largest Jewish population.
Olmert also suggested that it may be time for the Jewish Agency for Israel to change its name and mission to the Agency for Israel and the Jewish People.
Linda Kislowicz, executive vice-president of UIA Federations Canada – the Canadian arm of the Jewish Agency – attended the speech in Jerusalem and told The CJN that Olmert’s remarks signaled a change in Israeli government policy.
“It’s a very broadening position for the government in its work with the Jewish Agency,” she said. “Canadian and U.S. [Jewish] communities will benefit accordingly. But it’s hard to know what this will mean without further details.”
The assumption among agency board members was that Israel’s new help would include increased funding for a revamped organization.
The Jewish Agency is running a deficit this year of roughly $25 million (US), and expects a budget shortfall of $45 million in 2009.
Hit by the sinking U.S. dollar, rising Israeli inflation and the global economic downturn, the Jewish Agency is trying to reinvent itself as a leaner, more efficient organization and trying to adapt its mission for 21st-century realities: tight budgets, dwindling aliyah and increasing disaffection with Israel among Diaspora Jews.
Last week, the agency’s board of governors took a first key step in its new direction by establishing a steering committee to draw up a master plan for boosting Jewish identity abroad and connections between the Diaspora and Israel. The committee will consist of government and agency officials.
In his speech, Olmert specifically mentioned promoting programs focused on bringing Diaspora youth to Israel, including Birthright Israel and Masa.
Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Canada-Israel Committee, said that while Olmert’s remarks were certainly welcome, he was unsure whether they signified anything new.
“It’s not clear how this represents a departure from the past,” he said. “There have been different waves of promotion going both ways over the years. Programs like Masa or Birthright are just the other side of the coin. There’s always been a healthy dynamism [between Israel and the Diaspora].”
Fogel added: “I think his remarks were just an affirmation of this relationship. Perhaps, in part, his comments are a signal that the Diaspora communities are valued for what they contribute to Israel.”
Amir Gissin, Israeli consul general for Toronto and Western Canada, agreed that the time was right for Olmert’s remarks.
“It’s time for Israel to review the way it views its partnerships with the world Jewish community,” he said.
Gissin added that in his view, when compared to other Diaspora communities, Canada’s Jewish community is in good shape, saying that it has its “priorities right.” He singled out both the Montreal and Toronto communities for diligence in “maintaining Jewish heritage and identity” in the Diaspora.
“All in all, in Canada you will find a strong support and commitment to Jewish education as a means to ensure heritage and [support] for Israel. This is the way it should be, and this is the interest of Israel also,” he said.
Richard Pearlstone, chair of the Jewish Agency’s board of governors, said Olmert’s remarks reflect a new reality in which identification with Israel is seen as the glue that binds Jews worldwide and in which a wealthier Israel can afford to contribute to the Diaspora-Israel relationship.
With files from JTA
