After elections, prominent volunteers leave S.A. expat group Telfed - Haaretz

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Last update - 12:07 23/11/2007

After elections, prominent volunteers leave S.A. expat group Telfed

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Tags: Telfed, South Africa, Israel

Nine months after a charged elections campaign, Israel's largest organization for South African expatriates has recently seen a walkout by some of its prominent activists, who say they can no longer work with the current leader. Telfed's chairman, Maish Issacson, doesn't seem sorrowed by the walkout, which some have called a symptom of a major internal rift.

Michelle Wolff, Marcelle Weiss and Toni Milliner, who quit the organization several weeks ago after 36 years of volunteering between them, all say they were forced to resign because Issacson had treated them disrespectfully, marginalized their roles and presided in "an autocratic fashion." But others say the trio singled Issacson out for attack since he was elected in January, and that the resigners had focused on catering to the needs of veteran immigrants instead of newcomers. Advertisement

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Issacson says the activists had refused to abide by Telfed's democratic procedures and the organization's bylaws. "When things aren't done their way, they call it undemocratic," Issacson told Anglo File. "They've given a lot to Telfed, but their resignation leaves room for new and fresh ideas to revitalize the organization."

Weiss, who joined Telfed in 1991, says she'd "never had any problems with anyone" since she was elected to the executive committee five years ago. "Then the new leader arrived. I had to quit because it's against my character to work with people who are impossible to work with."

According to Weiss, the decision to resign came after a dispute which served as "the straw that broke the camel's back." Weiss wouldn't go into details, describing it as "an in-house thing."

Leaving Telfed was one of the hardest things Weiss has had to do, she says. "I decided that I'm banging my head against the wall, the man [Issacson] is not listening to anything I say." Weiss added that leaving the organization was a dilemma for her, as it left Telfed's new leadership unopposed.

A Telfed senior activist from one of the organization's regional committees said the three people who resigned had been "the backbone" of the organization, and that Telfed "had no one with so much devotion and experience to take their place."

An 'attempted putsch'

Weiss says the walkout is not connected to February's elections campaign, when members received e-mails calling on constituents to vote for religious candidates "ensure a stronger Religious-Zionist agenda" in Telfed. The e-mail generated an angry backlash and accusations of an "attempted putsch" on the part of religious-Zionists within the South African community.

The trio's decision to leave Telfed was, according to Weiss, also independent from the earlier resignation of former deputy chairperson Hillary Kaplan, who is currently on vacation with her husband and former chairman, David. Hillary Kaplan, who resigned several weeks before the trio, was not available for comment.

But Milliner, who had served as chairperson for the organization's immigrant absorption committee, speaks of four resignations. When asked whether the walkout was connected to the elections, Milliner also said it "has to do with everything."

Wolff, the third volunteer, who quit after 18 years with Telfed, says that "the issue is how the organization has been run since the elections." Wolff speaks of "a problem of lack of leadership skills." Though she would not name an example of how these problems manifested themselves, Wolff did say the conflict "was not about differences of religion or political views." Wolff said that although she and the rest of the group had had differences of opinion with the former leadership, they has always been able to smooth them out with everyone except Issacson. (See box)

Internal dissent

Long-serving Telfed Director Sydney Shapiro concedes the walkout will have an effect on "political issues." The resignations, Shapiro said, "are both a loss to Telfed and a positive outcome. Executive meetings can now concern themselves with issues at hand instead of spending the majority of time on political issues as raised by the [resigning] group."

Shapiro said the group that resigned was "just a small percentage" of the organization's management, adding that "the same thing happened with some of the former chairs." The group, Shapiro said, wasn't happy with previous election results.

"Democratic organizations must abide by rules, and can't operate according to the whims and fancies of individuals," Shapiro added.

Mendel Kaplan, a prominent figure in the community and former chairman of the Jewish Agency's board of governors, attributes the internal dissent within Telfed to the previous elections.

According to Kaplan, a split vote required the chair of the meeting to exercise a casting vote. "This meant that at least half of his own executive would be against the vote he cast, whatever he did. It was the wrong solution to a difficult problem," Kaplan told Anglo File. "The result has been disaffection and can only be cured by the next electoral process where hopefully a more acceptable candidate will be elected."

Chairman of Telfed's recently-formed regional committee in Beit Shemesh, Johnny Klompas, says the volunteers "never gave Issacson a chance, giving him a hard time from the day he was elected."

Klompas says he got the impression the group was interested in focusing on veteran immigrants instead of newcomers - which he believes should constitute the committee's main focus of attention. Klompas says he feels Issacson and the rest of the executive committee do operate democratically.

With regard to newcomers versus veteran immigrants, Milliner told Anglo File: "All immigrants are equal to me. I'm not here to take care only of people who have just made aliyah but to make sure that the people here are kept happy and remain. Our connection was with all South Africans, not just with new people who are coming."

Regardless of internal dissent, people who are familiar with the organization as outsiders speak of a strong and effective body. "I was surprised to hear about the walkout, because Telfed has been doing fantastic work," one activist who had had dealings with Telfed told Anglo File. "They are getting good housing deals in Modi'in now, and they are one of the strongest expat organizations in Israel."

Wolff, who like Milliner and Weiss is now volunteering with another group, agrees that Telfed's performance is good, but doubts whether things will stay that way. "The performance will show in a couple of years. It doesn't deteriorate in a month or two. The future depends on the present leadership and how they see it.

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