What was Bielski thinking when he talked about American Jews?

How much future does one need to have in order to make it a "foreseeable future?"

Because this is what Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski is willing to offer the American Jewish community. He said so himself today, as he was trying to explain previous remarks he made in an interview to Amir Mizroch of the Jerusalem Post: "one day the penny will drop for American Jews and they will realize they have no future as Jews in the US due to assimilation and intermarriage."

So you can all calm down now. There is indeed a future in the foreseeable future. Which reminds me of a story I heard two days ago about an Israeli soccer-coach asked about his feelings regarding playing Germany - considering all the history of the two nations - and reacted thus: "What was - was was" (you actually have to say it if you want to understand what he meant).

Now, Bielski is far from being dumb, and he has good enough English to express himself. So why would he choose to enter such controversy on the eve of a General Assembly of the Jewish communities, to which he came, as he stated today, to "say thank you" for all the work and help during the Lebanon war.

Now, you will not get a good answer to this question for a prosaic reason only: Bielski hasn't got one. Today, as he was grilled by journalists to further explain what he was talking about, he was struggling (one must say though, that he handled it with a humorous smile).

"Striving for a strong Israel at the center of the Jewish world does not negate strong Jewish communities," he said. "We will continue fostering our partnership and bond with Diaspora Jewry for years to come. This has been my belief for many years and any other interpretation is a misrepresentation of my position."

Well, it is all very nice, but what about THE FUTURE?

Bielski, again, talks about the past: I was quoting Ariel Sharon, he said. It's true that Sharon was adamant at reminding the American Jewish community that he believes in Aliyah, and wants them to come to Israel. However, Sharon was not the head of the Jewish Agency - and he was using positive terms, come to Israel, rather than negative ones, i.e. you have no future.

Another past incident Bielski drew on to make his case was A.B. Yehoshua's remarks about American Jewry. "I personally opposed A.B. Yehoshua's unfortunate negation of the Diaspora," Bielski reminded us, which might be true, I didn't bother to check.

Interestingly, I think Yehoshua was not as blatant as Bielski. And, again, Yehoshua is not the head of the Jewish Agency.

Some heads of Jewish federations and other professionals at the GA reacted with unease and even dismay to Bielski's remarks.

"He is not the one who can tell us if we have a future or we don't," one of them told me. Another one, evidently angrier, said that "Bielski is not a thinker, he is a doer."

I think he meant to sound offensive as he said this, but after I heard more versions of the same argument from a few others, I realized that was he was saying was actually good for Bielski: He will be able to keep his position without the need to publicly humiliate himself, because he is just not the kind of person who can make statements that stir a big debate.