This Week
A Little Leery
Shas role in Israel's new government has liberal Jews concerned.
AVI MACHLIS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
T
Jerusalem
he ink had hardly dried on
the coalition agreements
binding Israel's new national
unity government together
when Shas began flexing its muscles on
religious issues.
Upon entering his new office, Eli
Yishai, the political leader of Shas —
the Orthodox party now in control of
several key ministries — made clear
that he would move quickly to scrap
any hint of civic reform instituted dur-
ing the previous government.
"I will cancel any decision made that
contravenes the status quo," said Yishai,
Israel's new interior minister, referring
to the set of informal agreements that
have given the Orthodox establishment
control over marriages, divorces and
burials in the Jewish state.
"The results of the election prove
that the people of Israel do not want" a
civic revolution, he said.
Last year, after Shas bolted from his
coalition, former Prime Minister Ehud
Barak announced he would launch
such a "revolution" to whittle down
Orthodox control over many aspects of
Israeli life. However, Barak was preoc-
cupied with diplomatic issues and pur-
sued his civic reform agenda half-heart-
edly.
Yishai said Shas will seek to cancel
Israel's recognition of civil marriages in
foreign consulates located on Israeli
soil, one of the few changes made dur-
ing the previous government's tenure.
Consular marriages are only relevant
for a small number of people, but by
allowing Israelis with foreign passports
to bypass the Chief Rabbinate and
marry without traveling overseas they
represent a chink in the Orthodox
monopoly on marriage in Israel.
It is still too early to say how much
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will allow
Orthodox parties to pursue an agenda
that could exacerbate tensions between
Israel and Diaspora Jewry at a time
when many believe Palestinian violence
requires concerted Israel-Diaspora
cooperation.
Nevertheless, Yishai's led some leaders
of Judaism's liberal streams to wonder
whether Israel's national unity govern-
ment is indeed unifying for liberal
world Jewry.
Rabbi Ehud Bandel, president of
Israel's Masorti, or Conservative, move-
ment, warned the new government that
it risks an uproar among non-
Orthodox Diaspora Jews if it reverses
recent moves toward pluralism.
"Unity must not only be between the
political parties inside Israel, but also
the entire Jewish people, the majority
of whom are members of the Reform
and Conservative movements," Bandel
said.
In the United States, Reform and
Conservative leaders said they are dis-
mayed by Shas' role in the new govern-
ment, where the party will control five
ministries: Interior, Religious Affairs,
Health, Jerusalem Affairs, and Labor
and Welfare.
However, the leaders also recognize
Spreading `Truth'
Philanthropists enter the battle of Middle East public relations.
MICHAEL J. JORDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
T
New York
he Palestinians may not be
winning the war for
American public opinion,
but Israeli diplomats and
American Jews are still forging ahead
with efforts to augment Israeli has-
barah — a uniquely Hebrew term that
falls somewhere between explanation
and propaganda.
The Israeli government recently
took the unusual step of contracting
two prominent American public-rela-
tions firms — Rubenstein Associates
and Morris, Carrick & Guma — on a
three-month trial basis.
More controversially, a handful of
Jewish mega-donors has created a
think tank they hope will generate
3/16
2001
26
long-term strategies for presenting
Israel in a favorable light.
Some Israelis have asked whether
such a group is necessary; after all, isn't
that why Israel supports two embassies
and 11 consulates in North America?
And, they ask, if American Jews are to
get involved, shouldn't it be the
responsibility of the official Jewish
community, rather than private inter-
ests?
But American Jewish leaders say
international condemnation of Israel
during the past half-year of Israeli-
Palestinian bloodshed has made a
stronger public 'relations effort neces-
sary.
"There's always a need to do more,
to educate about the hate toward Israel
that exists, the unwillingness to accept
Israel, that Israel is under threat," said
Abraham Foxman, national director of
the Anti-Defamation League.
"As long as Israel makes news, and
has perhaps the largest foreign press
corps in any non-war zone, then Israel
needs to be concerned about how it is
presented," he said.
that security matters are now a higher
priority in Israel than domestic matters,
and they need to support the govern-
ment.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, executive
director of the Reform movement's
ARZA World Union, said he expects
Shas to use its new posts to create "mis-
chief" for Reform and Conservative
Jews.
However, "the national issues always
outweigh the parochial issues," Rabbi
Hirsch said. "The security of Israel is
more important than any given sectori-
al issue." Rabbi Jerome Epstein, execu-
tive vice president of the United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism,
said he understands the political
dynamic that requires Shas' inclusion in
the government.
It may foster Sharon's "peace agenda,"
Rabbi Epstein said, but it "will certain-
ly hinder any domestic agenda." He
said the Conservative movement will
face a "real balancing act" to support
Israel while continuing to push for plu-
ralism.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the
Reform movement's Union of
American Hebrew Congregations,
does not expect any gains for the liber-
al movements under the new govern-
ment, but hopes "that neither will
there be any significant retreat." One
would hope the more moderate ele-
ror attacks — and much of the world
blamed Israel.
The vitriol appeared to catch Israel's
Foreign Ministry by surprise. Before
Israel could organize its hasbarah
effort, the Palestinians had scored
major victories on the battlefield of
public opinion.
"We need to be proactive, not reac-
tive," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive
vice chairman of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish
organizations. "Israel is always served by
the truth, because its case is fundamen-
tally sound." Enter the new think tank
— "Emet," the Hebrew word for truth.
Peres' Policy
For much of the past decade, Israel
appeared to be guided by a notion
advanced by Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres: If Israel's policy is right, there's
no need for hasbarah, and if its policy
is wrong, hasbarah won't help.
That notion was put to the test over
the last half year — and, many
believe, disproved.
When former Prime Minister Ehud
Barak offered far-reaching concessions
in peace talks, the Palestinians
responded with street clashes and ter-
Private Funding
Spearheading the project is Leonard
Abramson, the Philadelphia-based
founder of U.S. Healthcare, along
with philanthropist Michael
Steinhardt and World Jewish Congress
President Edgar Bronfman.
The group consulted with Hoenlein,
Foxman and other Jewish activists —
and only then notified Israel's Foreign
Ministry, Foxman said.
American donors are expected to pro-