OPINION

Do We Care
Now Israel Spends?

GARY ROSENBLATT

Editor

It's time for
American Jew-
ish leaders to
voice their frus-
trations with the
Israeli govern-
ment over how it
1 spends its money
— and ours.
A case in point: while
Israel is overwhelmed with
the financial responsibility
of providing homes and jobs
for hundreds of thousands of
Soviet Jews, it has tripled its
financial aid to support Or-
thodox rabbinical students
(from 8.6 million shekels in
1989 to 26.8 million in 1990,
or from approximately $3.7
million to $11.6 million) and
increased its contributions
to yeshivot over the same
time period from about 118.5
million shekels to 185.5
million (approximately
$51.5 million to $80.6 mill-
ion).
That's because the small
religious parties have
demanded these increased
funds in return for their par-
ticipation in the Likud
government.
Nothing new or illegal
here — just business as
usual, Israeli-style.
We can shrug our
shoulders, as we usually do,
or we can speak up.
The issue is not religious
ideology but fiscal respon-
sibility. It's not that Or-
thodox yeshivot are receiv-
ing funds; it's that they are
receiving increased funding
at a time when dollars are so
hard to come by, and when
the American Jewish com-
munity has pledged a billion
dollars in loans to Israel for
the resettlement of Soviet
Jews.
We have a right to see that
our investment is well spent,
and to make certain basic
demands of the Israeli
government. Such as: ensur-
ing that services for those in
need are based on merit
rather than political con-
siderations.
Another case in point: the
decision to allow housing
construction for the new
immigrants to be built only
by Israeli contractors was
based on politics, not the
welfare of the newcomers.
Israeli contractors do not
have the capacity to build
the volume of housing
necessary. American con-
tractors offered their help,

but the Israeli government
gave in to political demands
at home and helped guar-
antee that the problem will
continue, and perhaps grow
even more serious.
So while housing goes up
overnight on the West Bank,
there are still no homes built
for the Soviet immigrants in
other parts of Israel.
A third example: why is
there no rent control in
Israel? The Soviet
newcomers are being forced
to pay triple and quadruple
normal rental fees by greedy
landlords. As a result, the
immigrants have less of
their government-subsidized
stipend left over for other fi-
nancial needs. And the prac-
tical result is that two and
three Soviet families are
sharing living quarters
designed for one family.
These are but a few exam-
ples of a condition that has
become all-too pervasive in

We must show that
we act out of love,
not anger.

Israeli society. The govern-
ment seems to be more con-
cerned with party politics
and demands than meeting
the basic needs of its consti-
tuents. And the average
citizen responds by becom-
ing more frustrated, more
cynical and more alienated
from the political process.
From time to time there
are demands for revising the
electoral system, which
allows the smallest parties
to maintain a stranglehold
on the larger ones. But only
the parties in power have
the ability to change that
system and they are in no
hurry to do so. So the peti-
tions with tens of thousands
of signatures and the hunger
strikes in tents across the
street from the Knesset are
ignored and it's business as
usual.
What compounds this un-
fortunate condition is the at-
titude of American Jewish
leaders who privately be-
moan the situation but
publicly continue to pay
homage to Israeli leaders
during "missions" to the
Jewish state.
Of all the American Jew-
ish organizations raising
funds for Israel, how many
are able to speak openly, and
at times critically, to their
Israeli counterparts about

IL__ IL_J IP:I I

how those funds are
distributed?
There is much debate
about whether Diaspora
Jews have the right to speak
their mind on Israeli securi-
ty matters. But is there any
question that we have the
right and the obligation to
insist that our financial con-
tributions are well spent?
Until now, Israeli leaders
have been willing to take
our dollars, but not our ad-
vice.
We need to help create an
advocacy group that can
speak out for the rights of
Israeli citizens and Diaspora
contributors. Perhaps the
Council of Jewish Federa-
tions, the central body for
community federations

which raise the majority of
our dollars for Israel, can
play a leading role. It could
use its financial clout to per-
suade the government
leaders in Jerusalem to
listen to the voices of its own
people.
We have a responsibility to
be more aggressive in ensur-
ing that the Israeli govern-
ment becomes stronger,
more democratic and more
viable. We need to make it
clear that our interests are
not political or ideological,
but simply to help the
government fulfill its man-
date. We must show that we
act out of love, not anger.
But we must speak up or
we will only contribute fur-
ther to a situation that poses

as much of a threat to Israeli
society as Arab armies.
Israelis are not leaving
their homeland for America
because they feel physically
endangered. Soviet Jews are
not postponing their emigra-
tion to Israel because they
are afraid of another war.
There is, rather, resentment
for a government that is not
responsive enough to the
problems of housing, jobs
and the countless daily
situations that can con-
tribute to the success or
failure of a nation.
Today, the fabric of Israeli
society is being threatened
from within. How can we
think that we serve our
brethren best by remaining
silent? El

Israel, Jewry Need A Solution
For Soviet Non-Jewish Emigres

NATAN SHARANSKY

W

ith candidates out-
numbering seats by
nearly six to one,
competition was tough at the
elections for the presidium of
the Soviet Jewish Zionist
Forum last month. Still,
things proceeded smoothly
— until Shimon Grilius took
the floor.
Mr. Grilius, a former
Prisoner of Zion who became
a newly observant Jew in
the Gulag, arrived in Israel

Mr. Sharansky is an editor of
the Jerusalem Report, from
which this piece is reprinted.

in the mid-'70s. He founded
a yeshiva for Soviet Jews
and has dedicated himself to
helping them discover lost
traditions. At the election
meeting, he objected to one
candidate: fellow former
Prisoner of Zion, hero of the
1970 Leningrad trial, Ed-
ward Kuznetzov.
"I love this man," Mr.
Grilius said. "I admire him
for his courage before and
during his trial as well as in
prison. He is a goy tzedak (a
righteous gentile). But how
can a gentile serve in the
presidium of the Soviet Jew-
ish Zionist Forum?"
The response was immedi-
ate. People stood up and

shouted, "Who let him
speak! We are not racists!"
And, in a reference to the
ultra-Orthodox absorption
minister, "Isn't one Rabbi
Peretz enough?"
It was the only time in the
two-day meeting that I, as
chairman, had to calm the
audience.
As it turned out, Mr.
Grilius' speech was an
excellent endorsement. Mr.
Kuznetzov, who had a Jew-
ish father and a non-Jewish
mother, garnered far more
votes than anyone else on
the list.
While Israelis, both
secular and religious, are in-
Continued on Page 10

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