Focus on Jews and Israel

By Andrea Barron

US Jews Protest Proposed 'Law of Return' Change

American Jews have launched a major campaign to protest a proposed change in Israel's "Law of Return," which now grants automatic citizenship to anyone whose mother is Jewish or who has converted to Judaism. The proposed amendment would delegitimize the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist branches of Judaism by recognizing as Jews only those converts who have been converted by Orthodox rabbis. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has promised the ultra-Orthodox political parties to support the amendment if they join a government headed by his rightwing Likud Bloc.

Several high-level delegations of American Jews traveled to Israel over the past month to let Shamir, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and other Israeli leaders know just how upset they are over the so-called "Who is a Jew" issue. Shoshana Cardin, a past president of the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF), led one delegation to Israel, where she was joined by representatives from the United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the United Israel Appeal. Cardin said she is afraid that "the unity of the Jewish people, Klal Yisrael, could be destroyed" if the Law of Return is amended and that Israeli leaders should be aware of the "tremendous, tremendous trauma that will take place if we are not understood."

Rabbi Alexander Schindler of Reform Judaism's Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) has been one of the strongest critics of a change in the Law of Return. He thinks it would cause many American Jews—especially those affected by intermarriage or conversion—to distance themselves from Israel. Rabbi David Forman, director of Israel programs for the UAHC, estimated that as many as 35 percent of US Jews are the children of mixed marriages.

"While many American Jews did not feel comfortable speaking out about the intifadah, they do feel free to criticize (Israel) publicly on 'Who is a Jew' and are giving voice to deeply felt resentments."

According to the Washington Jewish Week, Schindler attributes some of the anger in the community over the "Who is a Jew" question to "a cumulative buildup of anger, which was influenced by concern over Israeli excesses in combating the intifadah. While many American Jews did not feel comfortable speaking out about the intifadah, they do feel free to criticize (Israel) publicly on 'Who is a Jew' and are giving voice to deeply felt resentments. There is the danger of a massive turning away from Israel."

One local Jewish federation has already threatened to "turn away" from the Jewish state by redirecting its money away from Israel to Jewish institutions in the United States. The Atlanta Jewish Federation voted on November 22 that "no portion of (1989-90 Federation) funds will be allocated overseas until the issue of the Law of Return is satisfactorily resolved to the consensus of our community." David Sarnat, executive director of the Atlanta federation, told the Atlanta Jewish Times, "Our concept of a Jewish state and our support for Israel has never been in question. It's how do we deal with a political system in Israel over an issue so divisive to world Jewry that we feel transcends political borders."

Atlanta is not the only city where the Jewish community is up in arms over the "Who is a Jew" question. The Chicago federation reportedly has decided that if the Law of Return is changed, it will decrease contributions to Israel and increase funding for Jewish organization in the US. According to Walter Ruby of The Washington Jewish Week, "The United Jewish Appeal is facing rebellions in every city in the US. Contributions are already down in many places."

Prominent US Jews Meet Arafat in Stockholm

Five prominent American Jews responded to the PLO's declaration of support for two states—Israel and Palestine—by a public meeting with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in Stockholm arranged by the Swedish foreign minister. The delegation was lead by Rita Hauser, an international lawyer who chairs the American branch of the Tel Aviv-based International Center for Peace in the Middle East and is also associated with the American Jewish Committee.

The other members of the delegation were Drora Kass, executive director of the US arm of the International Center; Menachem Rosensaft, head of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors; Stanley Sheinbaum, a well-known economist and publisher from Los Angeles; and Abraham Udovitch, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Near Eastern studies department at Princeton University.

At the Palestine National Council (PNC) meeting held in Algiers from November 12-15, the PLO endorsed United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which implicitly recognizes Israel and calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. But in Stockholm Arafat went further toward recognizing Israel. A statement drafted by Arafat and the American-Jewish delegation said that the PNC had "established the independent state of Palestine and accepted the existence of Israel as a state in the region." This statement specifically mentioned the name of Israel.

Most American-Jewish organizations reacted negatively to the Stockholm meeting. Milton Shapiro of the Zionist Organization of America, for instance, said the Jews who met with Arafat "denigrated themselves and the organizations in which they have assumed active leadership roles." But the Jewish Telegraph Agency quoted Rabbi Alexander Schindler from the UAHC as saying the Stockholm statement "appears to be a step in the right direction and deserves close study and consideration." Schindler, who himself declined to meet Arafat in Stockholm, said "ultimately if Arafat wants peace, he will have to make that peace not with the prime minister of Sweden, nor with the US government, nor with American Jews—however well intentioned—but with Israel itself."

Andrea Barron is a Ph.D. candidate in international relations at the American University in Washington, DC and is a member of the Jewish Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.