COMMENT
In Defense Of
The Jewish Agency
HARRY ROSEN and
SHLOMO TADMOR
Special to the Jewish News
I
n your recent series of
articles, Charles Hoffman
asks: "Where do all our
dollars go? Is the Jewish
Agency meeting the chang-
ing needs of Israel and the
Jewish world?"
It is unfortunate that at-
tention to the content of the
articles has been diverted by
the vicious and insensitive
cartoons.
Hoffman has a great deal to
say about the Jewish Agency
and the World Zionist Organ-
ization. The essence of what
he has to say appears to be
that: the Zionists are in com-
plete control of the funds of
the Jewish Agency; Diaspora
leadership is being bam-
boozled by their partners in
the Jewish Agency; and the
Jewish Agency is a petrified
forest.
Readers will find that Hoff-
man supplies his own refuta-
tions of his arguments by
amply and consistently quot-
ing information and data
from agency reports and
studies dealing with the
issues he raises, and to which
he implies the agency does
not address itself.
For the record, it should be
noted that since 1971, when
the Jewish Agency was re-
constituted to create the pre-
sent 50-50 partnership, Dias-
pora leadership has had an
equal and direct say in the
running of the agency, par-
ticularly in regard to distribu-
tion of funds. and in monitor-
ing how the funds are spent.
One could not find a more
thorough and open ongoing
budget and financing process
than the one conducted by
the Budget and Finance Com-
mittee of the Agency's Board
of Governors. The books are
open. The sessions are open.
Indeed, in February of this
year the meetings were held
in New York so that the Bud-
get and Finance Committee
sessions would be open to
American and other Jewish
community leaders.
Accountability is a year-
round process, allowing for
changes and modifications as
) the budget is being used, and
keeping the agency consti-
tuency continually informed.
As to operations and pro-
grammes, there is no depart-
ment of the Jewish Agency
that is not responsive to
changing needs and situa-
tions and that has not itself
undergone change in operat-
ing methods.
Project Renewal and Opera-
tion Moses are two outstand-
ing examples of response to
contemporary needs. In the
case of rural settlement, the
Jewish Agency has acted to
forestall the deepening crisis
in many moshavim and is ad-
dressing itself to finding new
and diverse ways of solving
the long-term problem.
Hoffman quotes from the
Jewish Education Committee
of the agency board and from
a study commissioned by the
agency to highlight criticisms
of the agency and WZO in-
volvement in Jewish educa-
tion. The very sources he cites
are proof that the Jewish
Agency is constantly re-
sponding to new situations
and seeking new ways to im-
plement solutions to these
problems.
The fact is that the Jewish
Agency is continually moni-
toring itself and undergoing
self-evaluation, and opening
itself to such monitoring and
evaluation by its consti-
tuents. The results of this
process are reported back to
the agency's governing bodies
for appropriate action. The
consequence of this process is
that anyone looking at any of
the agency's major pro-
grammes today would not
recognize the same pro-
gramme as it was several
years ago.
Issues of a political nature
and of governance are con-
stantly being addressed and
dealt with in open forums
created or inspired by the
Caesarea Process which be-
gan in February 1981. In ad-
dition, the board of governors
long-range planning commit-
tee takes into consideration
priority issues and objectives,
and all this is reflected in ac-
tion by the agency's govern-
ing bodies.
The fact of the matter is
that all the issues which Hoff-
man raises in his articles have
by now come under considera-
tion. Item: search committees
are the basis for the appoint-
ment of all top personnel.
Item: manpower organization
and practices have been the
subject of indepth review by
the board's management
commission, which made
recommendations to the -
board and were acted upon.
Item: the so-called "discre-
tionary funds" are under
close scrutiny.
It is no secret that the
organizational cultures of
Israel and the Diaspora, par-
ticularly the U.S., are very dif-
ferent in concept and opera-
tion, and this is a constant
source of misunderstanding
and difficulty. However, this
is also the very reason why we
need the Israel-Diaspora in-
strumentality which is the
Jewish Agency.
The achievements of the
Jewish Agency from its in-
ception and through state-
hood until today need no
elaboration — in settlement,
aliya, education and social
rehabilitation. In the light of
these achievements, it is no
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