Partnership 2000 has invested money and resources
to strengthen the Israel-Diaspora relationship

JULIE WIENER Staff Writer

I

t's a relatively small area thou-
sands of miles away, but Israel's
Central Galilee region occupies
a big place in Bob Aronson's
heart.
As a young man, Aronson, execu-
tive vice-president of the Jewish Feder-
ation of Metropolitan Detroit, spent
years volunteering on the region's Kib-
butz Yifat. As an adult, he regularly
visits the grave of his grandfather, one
of Yifat's founders.
"For a lot of people, including
myself, the relationship with Israel is a
major part of our Jewish identity,"
says Aronson. Together with Federa-
tion, lay leaders and Tova Dorfman,
director of Federation's Israel office,
Aronson has invested countless hours
and millions of community dollars to
ensure Israel is a major part of the
Michigan Jewish community's identi-
ty, too.
And that the relationship goes in
two directions.
The vehicle for this two-way street:
Partnership 2000, a United Jewish
Appeal project that pairs Diaspora
Jewish communities with 28 Israeli
regions. It means to replace the "rich
American Jew helping the poor Israeli"
model of Israel-Diaspora relations
with one based on joint projects of
mutual interest and people-to-people
exchanges.
Initiated in 1994, Partnership 2000
was the brainchild of Ronit Dolev,
then the Jewish Agency's director of
rural and urban development. "She
came up with it as a way federations
could become involved in how their
Israel dollars are spent and take part in

the decision-making process," Aron-
son explains. "In Detroit, we took the
ball and ran with it."
Federation selected the Central
Galilee, which includes the municipal-
ities of Nazareth Illit, Jezreel Valley
Regional Council and Migdal
HaEmek, along with a smattering of
kibbutzim and moshavim, as its part-
ner for a number of reasons: Aronson's
personal connections to the region,
the fact that local businessmen/philan-
thropists David Hermelin and
William Davidson owned a factory
there (see related story, "Smoke Signals"
and because the region's Jewish popu-
lation was roughly the same size as
Detroit's.
In the 3 1/2 years of partnership,
Federation has sent approximately 600
people, including teenagers who par-
ticipated in 1996's Teen Mission, on
subsidized trips to Israel. The Central
Galilee has sent 200 of its residents on
subsidized trips to Michigan. The pro-
ject is governed by a steering commit-
tee of Israelis and Michigan Jews who
meet twice a year.
"We have three basic philosophies
for Partnership 2000 exchanges," says
Aronson. "We visit the region and
they visit us, so it's not just us sending
people to Israel. We develop projects
that are of mutual self-interest, and we
develop exchanges based on common
affinities."
Exchanges have included meetings
between young leaders, women
activists (see related story, "Feminist
Connections'), academics and medical
professionals. In one ongoing pro-
gram, University of Michigan business

school students travel to the region for
internships in which they help develop
marketing plans for new businesses.
One of the first exchanges occurred
three years ago, when 26 activists from
the Central Galilee visited counter-
parts at Michigan State University to
learn about grassroots community
organizing.
For the most part,
exchange participants
on both sides of the
Atlantic are selected
based on their exper-
tise, affinities and leader-
ship potential. Most of the
Detroit participants have
already been to Israel at least
once, if not more.
"The visits are not tours of
Israel," says Aronson. "Time
is spent intensively meeting
people in the region, getting
to know the region. If they
want to see Jerusalem or
Tel Aviv, they have to do
it on their own."
In addition to the
exchange compo-
nent, Partnership
2000 supports
projects to
improve the quali-
ty of life in the
region, says Dorf-
man, who travels
several times a week
to the Central Galilee
from the Federation's
Jerusalem office. Quality-
of-life projects include
volunteer training, educa-

Michigan is
paired with
the Central
Galilee region.

6/19
1998

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