Last update - 00:00 31/10/2007
U.S Jewish donors make bid to separate Jewish Agency, WZO
By Anshel Pfeffer
A group of prominent Jewish American philanthropists has taken steps in recent weeks to separate the Jewish Agency (JA) from the World Zionist Organization and end all political affiliation in the operation of the WZO.
Donors and community leaders in the U.S. are calling for increased transparency at the Jewish Agency, which is responsible for immigration from the Diaspora.
Nearly half the JA's budget comes from donations by North American Jews via United Jewish Communities (UJC), which controls only 30 percent of the seats.
The donors, who include some of the world's wealthiest Jews, have threatened to stop giving money to the JA unless their demands are met. They would give money to independent projects instead.
The donors and community leaders are calling for increased UJC representation and broader oversight by American accountants.
Members of the WZO, which consists of representatives from Israeli political parties, the major Zionist organizations and various religious streams, comprise half the seats in the organizations that run the Jewish Agency, the JA Assembly, board of governors and directorate.
They also control the political appointments of senior JA officials, including the chairman, treasurer and some department heads.
These demands reflect a growing trend among wealthy Jews toward funding independent projects such as Nefesh b'Nefesh or taglit-birthright israel rather than giving money to the JA through donations to UJC. Three months ago Sheldon Adelson, considered the world's richest Jew, gave $50 million to taglit but consistently refuses to donate to the Jewish Agency.
A few weeks ago the banking tycoon Bobby Goldberg, the chairman of Tel Aviv University's Board of Governors, convened a meeting of Jewish billionaires that included Michael Steinhardt and Charles Bronfman. They drafted an unofficial list of demands from UJC and JA heads that included separating the JA from the WZO, ending political appointments and increasing to 50 percent U.S. representation in the major organizations, with a threat to suspend donations to the JA and UJC.
The president and chief executive of the UJC, Howard Rieger, declined to comment on the issue. The Jewish Agency spokesman said: "The uniqueness and strength of the JA lies in cooperation among all its components, including the WZO, the UJC and the Keren Hayesol, and in its close connection to the government of Israel. That partnership will continue in the future, with the approval of all its partners."
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