Should We Give to UJA? An Exchange
Fisher, Franklin
SHOULD WE GIVE TO UIA? AN EXCHANGE FRANKLIN FISHER LEONARD FEIN At the same time that many contributors are increasing their gifts to the United Jewish Appeal, there are reports from around the...
...I do not know that there is an easy way around this, but in an ideal world, it would be perfectly clear that our philanthropic commitment to Israel and its people is entirely independent of our feelings regarding Israel's policies...
...1 invite you to join with me...
...What does it imply to those in Israel—there are many—who think Sharon a reckless, evil man...
...Israel's current government has already paid astronomical costs—in dollars, in international stature, in human life, in domestic morale—in pursuit of its mistaken West Bank policies...
...Nevertheless, such a solution surely cannot be achieved if Israel, rather than making security the primary consideration, continues to pursue a policy leading towards annexation of the West Bank as part of a greater Israel...
...I do not favor a Palestinian state on the West Bank...
...It is essential, it seems to me, that there be a way and a place to stand with Israel that is not at Mr...
...It has taken American Jewry decades—actually, close to a century now—to develop the network of communal philanthropic institutions we enjoy...
...We need, as I've said, to work much harder and more imaginatively than we ever have, now that we know the risks, to separate the two—and that is precisely the opposite of the direction you're taking...
...Yet it is apparent that such is the course of the present Israeli government both in terms of its pronouncements and in terms of its policy of promoting settlements on the West Bank...
...I do not believe that achievement of peace is merely a matter of Israeli intentions...
...When members of UJA's Prime Minister's mission assemble in the hall of the Knesset, in the presence of the Prime Minister, to announce their gifts, we beget the very problem from which we now suffer...
...I am taking this action because of what I believe to be the disastrous policies of the present government of the State of Israel...
...Does it not make more sense, is it not more constructive, to seek to de-politicize the image of our philanthropy, to establish once and for all that our giving is about people and their needs, not about policies and their wisdom...
...Sincerely, Leonard Fein Robert Loup General Chairman United Jewish Appeal 1920 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10019 Dear Bob: You will have seen my letter to Frank Fisher regarding politics and the UJA...
...I don't want anyone to feel that an American Jew must choose between two positions^—either to identify with the organized community, and thereby to be taken as a supporter of Mr...
...Begin decides to do...
...Begin's actions, or to be critical of Mr...
...In my view, what it does it to make us look mindless—or worse...
...Bob, the Sharon case is straightforward...
...The course of the present government will not be turned by me, or, apparently, by anything else...
...But let Israelis—politicians and simple citizens alike—know that what the UJA is about is independent of Mr...
...No one is more conscious than I of the fact that American Jews cannot and should not make Israeli decisions...
...Here we are, ardent lovers of Zion, wrapped up somehow in policies that threaten Zion...
...Do not mistake me...
...It is not Israel which for at least a generation has prevented the bringing about of a peaceful solution...
...Finally, for all that I think the present course of Israel's government terribly mistaken, J would not want Israel's policies, neither those with which I agree nor those I oppose, to be up for sale...
...As you know, I've not been shy about expressing my disagreements with the current policies of Israel's government...
...Let them say what they have to say—in any of the very many other forums available to them...
...Of course it does—and, once again, that means that the issue boils down to the interpretation that is placed on that support, by Israel's government and by you—that is, by the donor himself...
...You are dealing here with a man who, in the view of many of us, has about him, and has had for many years, the stench of death, who was caricatured at the mass rally in Tel Aviv in mid-September as marked by the mark of Cain...
...It is therefore with a heavy heart that I must tell you that I can no longer contribute or solicit for CJP...
...But even then, you would almost surely have no impact on Israeli policy...
...CJP's constituent agencies will receive my support as will Israeli institutions such as the Tel Aviv and Hebrew Universities with which I have long-standing and deep professional and personal ties...
...You argue in your letter that "our contributions are taken as a sign that the present government of Israel has our support...
...This is not the case...
...But I do not share the conclusion you draw from those views, not at all...
...I beg of you to consider that nothing is gained, and much is lost, if you participate in the fiction that philanthropy is a shorthand for political endorsement...
...And that means, as well, that your argument regarding the fungibility of dollars is not compelling...
...Ah," you will say, "but there is no other way to register my profound dissent...
...I have no interest at all in trying to "muzzle" Sharon or any other Israeli leader...
...My life and the lives of my wife and children are not on the line...
...Accordingly, it is virtually certain that your decision not to give the UJA—even if multiplied by thousands throughout the community—would not deter it...
...Perhaps there is some other way...
...In a sense, we are now paying the price for some sloppy habits we have developed over the years...
...Perhaps I am wrong...
...But you know that is not so...
...I have no illusion as to whether my actions will have a perceptible effect...
...In mid-September (before the Beirut massacre) Franklin Fisher, Professor of Economics at MIT, former Chairman of UJA's Faculty Advisory Cabinet, a highly regarded and active participant in Boston's Combined Jewish Philanthropies, wrote a letter to CJP explaining the reasons he had decided not to contribute to this year's campaign...
...You are dealing with a man whose dismissal from Israel's Cabinet was urged upon the Prime Minister just last month by at least some members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations...
...I am disturbed by another implication of your proposal as well...
...As much as I share your displeasure with Mr...
...Not so...
...I am quite sure there are leaders in the UJA who find it embarrassing when, by virtue of his office, he is invited to speak to the UJA...
...Sharon's exhortations and our feelings about them...
...The announcement was heard in Washington, and it was heard in Jerusalem...
...they have such opportunities, galore, whether via the media or through other Jewish organizations...
...You propose, for example, to divert some of your dollars to Israel's universities...
...I want to call to your attention particularly those passages in which I argue that our philanthropic activity should be de-politicized...
...Money is fungible and, as a practical matter, it is a fiction that UJA funds do not go to support West Bank settlements...
...Begin's right hand—or, for that matter, at anyone's...
...Sincerely, Leonard Fein...
...AN EXCHANGE FRANKLIN FISHER LEONARD FEIN At the same time that many contributors are increasing their gifts to the United Jewish Appeal, there are reports from around the country that some contributors are withholding their gifts entirely, in protest against the policies of the Begin government...
...Yours sincerely, Franklin M. Fisher Dr...
...Begin's policies, as much as I believe Mr...
...Yet you do not go on to argue, as you might, that our denial of contributions will be understood by Israel as a sign of our dissent, let alone that such an understanding would lead Israel's government to change its policies...
...In short, our politics can be expressed with far greater precision through any of a number of non-philanthropic organizations...
...And the announcement did not in any way affect the kinds of welfare programs for which UJA dollars are used...
...I think, therefore, I owe it to you—and to the growing number of people who have come to the same conclusion as you— to say why...
...This year's most highly touted mission of UJA leadership to Israel is called "The Gathering...
...Certainly, it cannot do so while upholding Jewish values...
...Those organizations invite political expression of all kinds, and they are appropriate vehicles for such expression...
...But of one thing I am certain I am not wrong: If the Ariel Sharons continue to be invited, 1 shall have lost my argument with Frank Fisher—and we shall all have lost a good deal more...
...Nevertheless, American Jews have a moral obligation to express themselves to their Israeli brothers...
...Professor Fisher's letter has been widely circulated and much discussed...
...But it is not my course and, in conscience, I can no longer go on pretending that I am not implicitly supporting it by silence and especially by contributions...
...All those costs have not deterred it from that pursuit...
...For you must somehow be able to show that there is a relationship between Mr...
...You must understand us and you must back us and we expect it of you...
...Frank, you wrote your letter before the horrors of Sabra and Shatila, before the outrageous statements by Mr...
...Accordingly, when you withhold your gift, people in Israel, people with real needs, will be made to suffer...
...Begin in the wake of those horrors...
...4Of course this does not mean that I shall cease my activities and contributions to Jewish causes both here and in Israel...
...What do I mean when I say that current policy blurs the dividing line between politics and philanthropy...
...Some 1,000 UJA leaders from all over the country are at this very time in Israel...
...The view that the population time bomb which the West Bank presents will fail to explode because of Aliyah from the West is but wishful thinking, not intelligent policy...
...For in principle, there is no difference between the UJA's behavior, which provides Israeli leaders the opportunity to tell us what they "expect" of us in the political realm, and Frank's, which would make of our contributions to the UJA a kind of plebiscite on political issues...
...You could get around the fungibility problem only if you were prepared to withhold all contributions to Israeli institutions...
...But is it appropriate for him—or any other of Israel's political leaders—to be provided a forum by UJA...
...I expect to contribute in total the same funds I would otherwise have contributed to CJP...
...I do not take this action because of opposition to the Lebanese war...
...You are dealing here with a man who is obviously controversial...
...There are other ways to express approval or disapproval of Israel's policies...
...Weighing our own desire to make a statement about Israel's policies against the danger that such a statement, if made in the manner you propose, will tear down that which has taken nearly a century to build up, I cannot accept the decision you've come to...
...That is why I do not regard my contribution to Peace Now or to similar endeavors as a substitute for my contribution to the UJA...
...For your act abets the confusion of philanthropy with politics...
...There is every reason to suppose that if the present government were forced, because of scarce resources, to choose between building more settlements on the West Bank and meeting pressing human needs within Israel proper, it would attach a higher priority to its West Bank goals...
...There is a wide range of communal organizations that are manifestly political, ranging from AIPAC to the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, all the way to the American counterparts of Israel's political parties, from Herat, USA to the Labor Zionist Alliance...
...much of Sharon's effort was apparently devoted to justifying Israel's presence there...
...Franklin M. Fisher Professor of Economics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Frank: I have read and re-read your letter...
...I beg you to consider this matter most urgently...
...Our money does go to support such settlements, if not directly then indirectly by freeing funds for use in the West Bank which would otherwise be spent within Israel...
...The belief that the Lebanese war was undertaken solely, or even principally for security reasons becomes harder to hold with every passing day, however...
...I think you are right not to imagine that your act would affect Israel's policies...
...as you know, I share many of your views...
...I have been honored to hold positions in the CJP and national office in the UJA where I was chairman of the Faculty Advisory Cabinet...
...I suppose that if the people of Israel had supported Mr...
...David Rosen Executive Vice President Combined Jewish Philanthropies 72 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 Dear David: This is not an easy letter for me to write...
...Yet by acting as it does, it helps insure that it will not be...
...Am I wrong to think that the only way to solve this problem is to move away from the long-standing tradition of inviting office-holders to speak to us...
...And I, too, defend that principle...
...A substantial part of my contribution which otherwise would have been taken as a sign of support for the policies of the present government will go instead to Shalom Achshav— Peace Now, the group within Israel which is most active in calling for a sensible resolution to the Palestinian problem...
...I believe Israel to have been unfairly maligned concerning its actions and, indeed the attitude of the world and the press toward the PLO terrorist occupation of Lebanon is appalling...
...If it fails, it can only produce continued war...
...More still, it is my delight to be able to share my resources with those of my people who have chosen to dwell in Zion...
...Frank, I think you know all that...
...As you know, I have worked actively in support of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the UJA for many years...
...It may very well be that security considerations together with Arab fanaticism will continue to make a peaceful solution impossible to achieve...
...Does so robust and so resolute a people as that not merit your continuing support...
...Without such a proclamation, the purpose of the recent war and its causalties becomes increasingly suspect...
...But I see no way around that...
...Begin's policies and your gift, ideally a relationship such that what you decide to do will affect what Mr...
...Such a policy will be disastrous...
...Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon will not deprive me of that delight, of that kinship...
...You will say, perhaps, that by providing Sharon a forum UJA does not mean to imply its agreement with his statements...
...Indeed, there is no way that American Jews can refrain from such participation...
...Israelis must make Israel's decisions...
...Were that not so, you'd have a more basic reason for withholding them...
...Given your powerful commitment not only to Israel's welfare, but also to t'zdakah, the political arguments on which you base ; your decision must therefore be ? weighty indeed...
...1 think, therefore, that what prompts your action is less its potential political effect, more your own frustrtion at being implicated, however remotely, in a policy you oppose, a policy you and I agree is doing inestimable damage to Israel's safety and welfare...
...Begin has done grave damage to Israel and to the Jewish people, I'll be damned if I will add to the list of the damage he has done the destruction of our communal framework and the strength we derive from it...
...I am ready to lend such support as I can to the political debate within Israel—up front, not via an inappropriate back door...
...You need a way to indicate very clearly that the one does not imply the other...
...You will say, perhaps, that if tomorrow Ezer Weizman, a man of very different views, replaces Sharon, the UJA will offer him, as well, a forum...
...American Jews are, of course, entitled to agree with the Defense Minister, even to applaud him...
...You will, perhaps, defend the principle of free speech...
...In other words, you do not argue that your withholding will accomplish a change in the policies you—and I— oppose...
...Because you see no other way, you choose as you have...
...Further, I believe the war to have been important for Israel's security...
...When the Prime Minister of Israel, whether named Golda Meir or Menachem Begin, or Israel's Foreign Minister, whether named Abba Eban or Yitzhak Shamir, is invited to address a UJA or CJF function, we end up with the current confusion...
...I think that the problem we face here—and it is a problem that has emerged in full force in the wake of this summer's events—is that we have, over the years, permitted the impression to be developed that support for the UJA does, in fact, mean precisely that which it is not supposed to mean—that is, support for the policies of Israel's government, be that Labor from 1948 to 1977 or the Likud since...
...What happened, instead, as you well know, is that the people of Israel, in justifiable indignation, demanded an official judicial inquiry into the massacre...
...I do not have the full text of Sharon's talk, but the quotes at hand include the following: "Israel stands strong on its security demands, and does not want one inch of Lebanese territory...
...This brings me to the role of American Jews and contributions to the UJA...
...Again, we ought to be figuring out ways to contain the damage, not to compound it...
...That, it seems to me, is very near the heart of the matter...
...Begin's effort to deny any responsibility whatever for the massacre, one might have reached the sad conclusion that they deserve "punishment...
...The policies of the present government have deeply divided American Jews and only the fear that opposition to those policies will be taken as opposition to Israel itself has kept those divisions from being even more evident than they already are...
...These remarks were delivered at Elkana, on the West Bank...
...The UJA is not required to provide Israeli leaders an opportunity to express their views...
...I do not like this way, but I have no other...
...Your act accepts and even extends the mistaken notion that our gifts have specific political intentions...
...If it succeeds, Israel will remain forever as a military occupier holding a growing Arab population subject...
...Surely now is the time for Israel to proclaim its desire for negotiation and peace rather than a bristling intransigence over Judaea and Samaria...
...Further, I intend to inform those whom I have solicited in the past that I am doing this...
...For openers, I presume that we agree that the funds we transmit to Israel through the UJA are put to important humanitarian use...
...The present government utterly refuses to do so, unless its true aim is to drive out the Arab population of the West Bank, a policy which is morally repugnant...
...What does that say to our own people...
...I cannot in conscience contribute my efforts and my money in a way which effectively supports a policy whose morality is questionable and whose results suicidal...
...But the fact is that the Tel Aviv and Hebrew Universities receive the bulk of their subsidies from the Israeli government...
...However much one wishes it could be otherwise, a rational government must face up to these problems...
...But that is not what happened...
...For if they are not—if, that is, they insist on blurring the dividing line between politics and philanthropy—then Frank will be entitledto shrug his shoulders and say to me, "You may be right in principle, but since UJA insists on introducing political matters into the campaign, I am left with no choice in the matter...
...They must be j weighty enough to justify the painful I human consequences of your ? decision...
...But they remain the envy of all who are involved in philanthropic activity in this country...
...And my principal problem with your decision is that instead of moving us closer to such an ideal world, it moves us farther from it...
...Our continuing enthusiasm and its financial expression are widely interpreted—by Israel's government, by other Jews, by the Congress of the United States—as an endorsement not only of the people of Israel, but of the policies of Israel's government...
...I can no longer be a party to this...
...It is inevitably the case that our contributions help free other dollars for such things as West Bank settlements...
...The UJA is—or should be— such a place...
...if and as you contribute to them, the pressure on the government to provide for their budget is relieved, once again freeing up dollars for investment in policies you oppose...
...Begin's actions, and thereby to separate himself (or be separated) from the community...
...Prompted largely by my strong feelings of identification with the people of Israel, I have solicited my friends and colleagues for contributions and given what have been for me substantial sums...
...I can understand, and in fact I share, the frustration you feel...
...I will give to the UJA this year, as I did last— more, if I can swing it—and I will find other avenues to give voice to my political sentiments, here and in Israel...
...This morning's papers report that yesterday, they were exhorted by Defense Minister Sharon...
...Thus, for example, when B'nai B'rith announced last month its positive response to the Reagan initiative, that was an important political act...
...Operation "Peace for Galilee" appears more and more to be related to Operation "Annex West Bank" and that is deeply troubling...
...Since this statement is liable to be misunderstood, a careful explanation is called for...
...We cannot decide for Israel, but we can surely expostulate with those who must decide...
...I think the conclusion flawed, mistaken, even dangerous...
...It may not make Begin feel worse, but it will make you feel better...
...If we do not speak or if we continue to contribute, our silence and our contributions are taken as a sign that the present government of Israel has our support...
...I've done that for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that I simply refuse to allow people to believe that in order to love Israel, one must approve its policies...
...Or shall we move in the direction you propose, a direction that would "entitle" supporters of Israel's annexation of the West Bank to withhold their UJA gifts the day a Labor government comes back to power...
...Since I cannot contribute without that effect, I must reluctantly cease my contributions to CJP...
...For all the flaws of UJA nationally and of our federations locally, they do a hell of a job...
...An argument that reads, "I oppose the policies of the Begin government, therefore I will not give to UJA," lacks, it seems to me, the needed weight...
...We reprint it here, together with a response by moment's editor that takes a very different view of our philanthropic responsibilities...
...Further, the security problem which the West Bank presents is both extremely difficult and of monumental importance...
...Those institutions are, admittedly, cumbersome, uneven, open on various grounds to criticism...
...I am very much afraid that my quarrel with Frank's position depends critically on whether the UJA (and local Federations) are prepared to question their own policies in this regard...
...But a part of that total will be diverted...
...Israel cannot retain the West Bank in the long run and at the same time remain both democratic and Jewish...
Vol. 7 • November 1982 • No. 10
