Haaretz
Shvat 1, 5767
Last week former Israeli
ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon was appointed co-chairman of
Nefesh B'Nefesh, a Jewish-American organization for the encouragement of
immigration to Israel. Israel's Ambassador to the European Union, Oded
Eran, was supposed to have taken up a senior position at the World Jewish
Congress this month. Last year a former director general of the Foreign
Ministry, Reuven Merhav, became director of the executive committee
Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
Retired
Israeli diplomats are new faces in the Jewish organizations. It is
interesting to examine what is behind the three cases. Are Israeli
diplomats taking the place of the veteran Jewish leadership, or are these
only functional appointments?
The most interesting case is that of
Eran, who was supposed to have been appointed director of the Jerusalem
office of the WJC and responsible for its foreign relations. Stephen
Herbits, the aggressive and controversial secretary general of the WJC,
still considered one of the most important Jewish organizations in the
world, was behind Eran's appointment.
Herbits was appointed in 2004
by the WJC's president and real boss, Edgar Bronfman. The organization is
still licking its wounds from the affair of the dismissal of
whistle-blower Ifi Leibler and the harsh findings of the Spitzer report of
last January. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer ? he became governor
of the state on January 1 ? revealed that the prestigious organization had
been previously run in a scandalous way. Most of the criticism was
directed at former secretary general Israel Singer, who was prohibited
from serving in an operational position. An honorary position was tailored
for him.
Since the WJC has been having difficulties finding a
suitable cause to champion in recent years, Herbits is attempting to put
the struggle against Iran's nuclear program at the top of the agenda. Eran
is supposed to play a key role in the WJC's information campaign and in
its relations with the government of Israel and other countries. Both
within the WJC and outside it, Eran's appointment is seen as a clear
signal that Singer's days are over. The man who with extraordinary natural
talent managed the negotiations vis-a-vis the Swiss banks is now supposed
to give way to a professional.
While the U.S. foreign service also
has many talented diplomats, Herbits preferred someone close to the
Israeli government. Eran accepted the offer, which includes an annual
salary estimated at $250,000, with little hesitation. In the meantime,
Eran's appointment has been frozen for at least three months, in the
context of power struggles between Herbits and the WJC heads in Israel.
The latter were insulted by Herbits' decision to "parachute" Eran onto
them, without taking their opinion into consideration. In addition, they
say the swift transition from the foreign service to the Jewish
organization, with no cooling-off, period is unseemly.
In private
conversations, Eran professes surprise and bewilderment over the storm
accompanying his appointment. The veteran diplomat, who feels at home in
the power centers of Europe, is looking like as a helpless rookie in face
of the convolutions of Jewish politics.
Eran's two colleagues have
also found themselves in the eye of the storm. It is interesting to note
that, like Eran, both Ayalon and Merhav have discovered that their Israeli
colleagues are now on the other side in these struggles. Merhav faces an
Israeli coalition, headed by Minister Rafi Eitan, which is demanding 50
percent-control of the Claims Conference. In a special discussion at the
Knesset this week, Merhav had to contend with harsh accusations of the
Claims Conference from Holocaust survivors, journalists and politicians.
Ayalon's situation is slightly better. The major rival of Nefesh B'Nefesh,
the Jewish Agency, has not declared war on the organization yet but the
tension between the two organizations is growing from year to year.
It would appear that more than anything else, the appointments of
Eran, Ayalon and Merhav express the great increase in Israel's importance
in Jewish politics. After a decade in which Holocaust property claims were
the main focus, it now appears that Israel is the only subject that
succeeds in arousing interest on the general Jewish arena.
The
three organizations that have chosen Israeli diplomats have done so mainly
in order to improve their standing in Israel, which has become a key arena
of action for them. The Israelis were chosen for defined and limited ends.
Leadership positions for them are not currently on the horizon. But it is
possible that even though this was not the original intention, the entry
of the Israelis will create a process that will eventually reach the top.
Most of the large Jewish organizations have been run by the same people
for more than 20 years. Their chief executives have not seen to nurturing
their successors, to put it mildly. Israelis, and not only those in the
foreign service, are about to discover that the Jewish world can offer
them salaries several times higher than they can get in their homeland.
Many Israelis will be delighted to fill the vacuum that will be created in
the coming years in the leadership of the Jewish organizations. Some are
also worthy candidates for these positions as a result of their rich
experience in public service. The choice of Eran as Singer's successor is
apparently just the harbinger of the new process.