It's time to restructure the Jewish Agency

The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors will meet this month in Jerusalem as the organization faces three fundamental issues: its 80th birthday, the upcoming election of the new chairman and the reverberations throughout the Jewish philanthropic world of the global economic crisis and fraud cases that have wreaked havoc on Jewish funding. Now is the time to rethink the Jewish Agency's mission, reason d'etre and modus operandi.

Since its establishment in 1929, the Jewish Agency for Israel has fulfilled all its missions, the most important being the establishment of a national home for the Jews in the Land of Israel. It built infrastructure for the fledgling country, organized defense operations for the Jews living here, spearheaded the settlement of the land and conducted aliyah campaigns and secret rescue operations. It also provided assistance in absorbing new immigrants, developed close relationships with Jewish communities around the world, organized a support network for Jewish education in the Diaspora, helped strengthen settlements in Israel, and helped the State of Israel and its citizens during times of war, terror and other crises.

Amid all these accomplishments, a large and complex organization emerged, which in its natural desire to ensure its existence, sometimes embraced goals and agendas that didn't address real needs. Such organizations usually find it difficult to adjust to the constantly changing environment; this is the case with the Jewish Agency.

All the same, the Jewish Agency remains the sole means of the Jewish people as a whole - whether in Israel or around the world - to achieve unity, partnership and mutual responsibility. No other body unites the representatives of all Jewish communities and groups in collective thinking and activity. The Jewish Agency's major mission and the key to its future success is the realizing of "Jewish Peoplehood."

To achieve this, the Jewish Agency needs to change its structure and relinquish its current functional divisions (education, aliyah, partnerships) - a vestige of past assignments or political considerations. It must establish two main operational frameworks: the first for the Jewish communities around the world, the second for Israel.

The first of these will include cultivating ties between Jewish communities, advancing Jewish education in communities around the world, developing a new generation of Jewish leaders, strengthening ties with Israel and encouraging aliyah. The second will deal with Israel's specific needs, which Jewish people around the world are interested in supporting, in full coordination with the Israeli government.

Within both these frameworks, the Jewish Agency must minimize its direct activities and become an initiator, catalyst, planner and facilitator, while professional organizations and nonprofit associations implement the activities on the ground.

This proposed structure will let the Jewish Agency focus on true needs to become more professional in strategic planning, and to adapt its activities to today's and tomorrow's needs, not yesterday's. It will also enhance cooperation between Israel and Jews around the world and prevent an unnecessary and costly duplication of the Jewish Agency's activities.

Modifying the Jewish Agency's structure to suit the new era is a challenge worth addressing for the upcoming chairman and leadership as we enter the 10th decade of its glorious history. And, maybe it is also the right time to consider updating the organization's name to suit the current realities.

The writer a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency and the Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal. He is also chairman of the International Board of Governors of Beth Hatefutsoth - the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.