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gathering of the Jewish people in Eretz
Israel through "aliya from all lands," which
means that aliya is not only for "refugees."
This trend has grown more evident since
the Caesarea Process was launched in 1981
(see box), a process attempting to redefine
the relations between the two sets of
leaders who jointly govern the Jewish
Agency and to make their "partnership"
more meaningful.
This process has brought Diaspora fed-
eration leaders into closer and more fre-
quent contact with the WZO leadership
and has involved these Diaspora federation
leaders with areas of activities that were
once regarded as the sole province of the
WZO. Among these areas are aliya from
western countries and Jewish education in
the Diaspora. This process has also created
the uneasy feeling among American
Zionists of being displaced in the affec-
tions of Jerusalem.
In all fairness, however, it should be
noted that the emerging position of Amer-
ican. Zionism as something • of a "fifth
wheel" is in part a result of its success in
pushing Israel-related issues and programs
onto the community agenda, including the
sensitive subject of aliya. Each step for-
ward in making Israel and aliya part of the
concerns of the community as a whole has
diminished the need for a separate organi-
zation to keep the Zionist faith alive. Since
the mid 1970s, the slogan "We are all Zion-
ists" has in many ways become a reality.
The growing tendency of the "non-Zion-
ist" leaders to take responsibility for what
was previously marked off as a "Zionist"
preserve has led to the expansion of the
role of the Jewish Agency or community
federations in areas such as Jewish educa-
tion and aliya from the west — thus revers-
ing the trend towards separation between
the arenas of the Agency and WZO
that was formalized in 1971. And
once this desire of the federation
leaders for a greater role in
Zionist activities was ap-
parent, a way was found
to iron out many of the
legal problems that

Art By Giora Carmi

Part Three

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