Haaretz
Shvat 19, 5765
At the dawn of the 21st century,
world Jewry is facing various fundamental problems, some of which are
ongoing, others new. But it has no institutionalized forum in which to
discuss them. Issues such as Jewish continuity, the definition of who's a
Jew, facing up to anti-Semitism and racism, assistance with immigration to
Israel, assistance to Jewish communities in distress and many other
questions are being discussed by organizations that have become
professional in one field or another. But their considerations are being
held without a worldwide Jewish forum taking part in the discussion,
passing the relevant resolutions and being instrumental in putting the
resolutions into practice.
One of the reasons for this strange
state of affairs is the existence of Jewish organizations that are dealing
with these issues but demand a monopoly for themselves, thus silencing any
attempt to set up a framework that might compete with them and cause funds
to be diverted to other places.
The World Zionist Organization,
already 109 years old, is a pathetic vestige of the organization founded
by Theodor Herzl, which was most relevant in the years leading up to the
founding of the State of Israel. Instead of being disbanded in 1948, with
the establishment of the state, it continues to exist as an anachronistic
framework, which represents a tiny fraction of the Jewish people,
transforming Zionism from a movement striving for the realization of the
Jewish people and its transition from the Diaspora to the State of Israel,
into a movement for "Lovers of Zion" - in other words, Jews who care
deeply about Israel and are interested in what goes on there, but who
wouldn't dream of going to live there.
The content of the Zionist
Congresses and the Zionists Organization of America directorate is of no
interest to the Jewish community around the world and, for the most part,
the work remains in the hands of "professional Zionists," for whom such
forums are a kind of old people's club, which has provided an income or
employment for them for decades.
The Jewish Agency, which is
composed of "Zionists" and men of means, and which benefits from an
ever-diminishing portion of the funds of the United Jewish Appeal,
performs important activities in the fields of education, immigration to
Israel and immigrant absorption in Israel. But its structure is outdated,
and it is not a forum that represents the Jewish people or allows serious
and influential discussions to be held in its framework.
The other
organizations are American organizations involved in Jewish-American
issues and trying to change their objectives, given that the original
objectives for which they were set up at the beginning of the 20th century
have already been realized a long time ago (organizations such as the
American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress). The World
Jewish Congress, which has Israeli representatives and has been successful
in preserving far more vitality than other groups, is also an organization
with total American dominance, so that it is not an appropriate forum for
the discussion of issues concerning world Jewry.
In a world in
which it is much easier to create a virtual community, thanks to
video-conferencing, the Internet, interactive TV, etc., the Jewish people
has relinquished the right to recreate a worldwide Jewish community, whose
core would comprise the two largest communities in the Jewish world -
North America and Israel (about 85 percent of world Jewry), joined by the
Jewish communities of Europe, South America, Australia and South
Africa.
In 1997, I proposed the establishment of an elected
worldwide Jewish parliament that would meet twice a year, set up an
executive institution, receive a budget and act to advance Jewish
objectives, and other objectives too.
This proposal was met with
various criticisms. Some critics claimed that an elected parliament would
create suspicions of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, thus causing renewed
accusations of dual loyalty. Others claimed that it was not practical to
discuss elections in the Jewish world and that such an organization could
only exist if it were appointed.
The president of Israel, Moshe
Katsav, now proposes that a worldwide Jewish organization be set up to
constitute a kind of "Second Chamber" for the Knesset and which would
deliberate upon issues discussed in the First Chamber that are of
relevance for world Jewry. Critics of this proposal say that it would be
impossible for the First Chamber to be made up of both Jews and Arabs,
while the Second Chamber comprised Jews alone.
I believe that it
would be more appropriate to set up a kind of Jewish "assembly" which
would be composed, primarily, of Jewish elected officials from the various
parliaments around the world and Israel and would be convened once or
twice a year. Thus it would be possible to set up a worldwide Jewish
meeting with people who are very relevant to their political systems,
people who have undergone an election process (even if it was not a Jewish
election process), and it would be possible to take away from the
"professional Jews" their dominance in the management of Jewish affairs.
It is necessary to ascertain whether the Jewish elected officials
from around the world would be prepared to take part in such an
organization. If answers are affirmative, the framework must be set up
under the sponsorship of the president of Israel, and it is to be hoped
that existing organizations will not undermine this
effort.
Yossi Beilin is leader of the Yahad party.
beilin@ecf.org.il