Maybe … just maybe … something is happening.
The movement for the Jewish community to draw lines may have gained traction as a result of an unrelated April 11, 2014 event. The controversial lobby known as J Street, which applied for membership in the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was subjected to what The Forward called “a grilling” by the Conference’s membership selection committee over J Street’s ties to other BDS movement organizations, such as Jewish Voices for Peace. A source described the session as “passionate, intense — a lot of arguing.” Ultimately, she added, “the selection committee declined to vote, making it procedurally very difficult” for J Street to join the Presidents’ Conference. The esteemed Presidents’ Conference epitomizes the Jewish communal mainstream, reflecting a vast gamut of views — from Americans for Peace Now, highly-critical of Israel, to the staunchly defensive Zionist Organization of America--52 organizations in all.
In the days before the selection committee’s “grilling,” the leadership of several organizations and well-known commentators expressed dismay that J Street — sometimes accused of fronting for the Arab Lobby — would even apply. An opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post last fall declared, “[J Street] Founder and president Jeremy Ben-Ami refuses to recognize Israel as a ‘Jewish state’ … co-founder Daniel Levy has described Israel’s creation as ‘an act that went wrong.’ … Ben-Ami was also proven to be a serial liar when, despite his repeated denials, the anti-Israeli George Soros was exposed as one of his major contributors.”
Now, as the Jewish and Israeli media buzzes with the kitchen-table revolt cooked up by JCC Watch, Rabbi Abadie, and others railing against the NIF’s participation in the Celebrate Israel Parade, the umbrage against the NIF’s participation is only growing. Rabbi Abadie has threatened to pull his congregation’s participation and financial support for the parade, and like-minded Sephardic congregations have promised to join him. An article in The Algemeiner likened the NIF’s parade inclusion to “appeasement.” Earlier this month, Member of Knesset Ze-ev joined flag-waving protestors in a Manhattan demonstration against the JCRC. MK Nissim declared, “Any Jewish organization which supports the BDS [movement] has no place among supporters of Israel. The UJA and JCRC, as leading organizations of American Jewry, must adhere to this policy if they are to be considered supporters of Israel.”
An April 4, 2014 article on the controversy in The Jerusalem Post led with the subhead: “Diaspora Affairs Ministry reconsidering its funding of future parades.” Subsequent reports conveyed confusion over whether the ministry was considering pulling funding or simply reallocating its budget. A number of Israeli officials consider themselves at war with the New Israel Fund. A source in the Celebrate Israel Parade management, not authorized to speak to the media, stated, “The parade derives its revenue from registration fees, float sponsorship, private philanthropy, and a grant from the Israeli government.” A second parade management source added, “The money from the Israeli government is not reduced but each year comes from different ministries and offices in tweaked amounts.”
In an interview, NIF CEO Daniel Sokatch defended his group stating, “Some of these folks are saying that the NIF is now synonymous with the boogie man … We get blamed for everything. It is patently absurd. It bears no relation to reality. It would be laughable if wasn’t so sort of sad.”
Clearly, a key demonstration of Jewish unity for Israel has now transmogrified into roiling divisiveness. That’s the opposite of the parade’s intent. For this reason, NIF supporters call for the open tent of inclusion to be broad enough to allow the most dissident factors in.