Digging Deep
American Jews open checkbooks
in response to campaigns for Israel.
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New York
A
t the New York office of Friends of the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF), phone calls
from people seeking to make contribu-
tions or volunteer increased an estimat-
ed 500 percent in the past month.
Hadassah: The Women's Zionist Organization
of America, which raises money for Jerusalem's
largest hospital, has already raised $8.4 million of
a special $28 million campaign for its emergency
medical center.
The Jewish National Fund, which is running a
special campaign in addition to its regular cam-
paign, has already raised $19 million this year, 26
percent ahead of where it was at this time last
year.
And Israel Bonds, which pays for Israeli govern-
ment infrastructure, reports investments 70 per-
cent ahead of last year at this time.
As major Jewish and Israel-related philanthro-
pies launch emergency campaigns for Israel,
American Jews are apparently heeding the call and
pulling out their checkbooks.
The Jewish federation system, which has raised
more than $100 million in emergency dollars for
Israel in the past few weeks, expects to raise con-
siderably more.
The recent giving — stemming from wide-
spread concern about Israel's survival — appears
to be reversing, at least temporarily, the 1990s
trend away from general giving to Israel.
The more traditional institutions, such as feder-
ations and Israel Bonds, had suffered setbacks in
recent years, as American Jews opted to fund what
were described as "boutique" philanthropies —
Israeli institutions that focused on specific organi-
zations, political causes or cultural needs.
"In general, the way most Jewish fund-raising
organizations work is that they always do better in
times of crisis, and in fact many of them are
structured for crisis," said Gary Tobin, president
of the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish
and Community Research.
Tobin, who has studied American Jewish phi-
lanthropy, said, "There is no question that we are
in a real crisis." He said he expects all giving to
Israel — whether to centralized or specialized
groups — to increase.
"It's a plain and simple response. People are
concerned. They're afraid. They are desperate to
do something to show support for Israel."
No Gain For Some
Some of the more specialized groups, like the New
Israel Fund — which supports a variety of progres-
sive causes in Israel — and the American Society
for Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, say
their fund raising this year is holding steady so far,
but not increasing. For the most part, both groups
report they are sticking to their main missions, but
say their funding priorities will likely change
somewhat to reflect the new situation.
At the New Israel Fund, officials said, that
means collecting money for grantees that help ter-
rorist victims, as well as increasing support for
human and civil rights groups, which the fund
believes are particularly challenged in the current
climate.
At the Technion, more spending is expected for
ongoing security-related projects, such as a think
tank for the IDF and projects to upgrade weapons
systems and border fences, said Lawrence Jackier
of Detroit, chair of the American Society for
Technion's board.
Amid so much bloodshed, medical facilities like
Hadassah and — to a lesser extent — the
American Committee for Shaare Zedek Jerusalem
Medical Center, a fund-raising arm for another
major hospital, are seeing major increases not just
for special campaigns but for regular efforts as
well.
Hadassah's regular campaign is already $3.3 mil-
lion ahead of last year at this time. Its special cam-
paign focuses on upgrading its emergency facili-
ties, which were last renovated 20 years ago and
designed to handle 40,000 patients a year.
Currently, an estimated 70,000 patients a year go
through the facility, officials say.
The hospital is facing other new demands as a
result of the situation. For example, it has stepped
up security at the hospitals and now provides bul-
letproof vests to its doctors and nurses traveling
through eastern Jerusalem.
The increased needs seem to be matched by
increased giving, said Joyce Rabin, coordinator of
the national fund-raising division. She said that on
top of the emergency campaign, she would like to
double the $30-$40 million that Hadassah raised
last year.
Shaare Zedek, which also serves both Jews and
Palestinians and is also upgrading its emergency
medical department, saw increased giving in the
past year. "What's happened to us is that we don't
have a hard sell at all," said Paul Glasser, executive
vice president of Shaare Zedek's American fund-
raising arm.
The group is in the midst of a $30 million cam-
paign — a third of which has been raised so far —
to build a new department of emergency medicine.
Security Needs
For its part, the JNF is sticking with existing priori-
ties, including addressing Israel's water needs and
building roads.
But it is focusing its advertising on the ways its
regular activities relate to the security situation.
For example, it has marketed an ongoing project
to build a new road near the Lebanon border as a
safe alternative to an existing road that has been vul-
nerable to attacks from Lebanon since Israel with-
drew from southern Lebanon.
The JNF is also allocatihg some funds for new
projects related to the situation, such as after-school
programs for Israeli schoolchildren and Caravan for
Democracy — a series of pro-Israel speaking tours
to college campuses in North America. For the first
time, it is also helping raise funds for groups such as
the Long Island-based Israel Emergency Solidarity
Fund that help the victims of terrorism and their
families.
In a new partnership, people can make contribu-
tions in increments of $36, half of which goes to
plant a tree in honor of a terrorist victim and half to
the Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund.
A spokesman for Israel Bonds, which also focuses
on general infrastructure needs, said the group has
been asked to sell at least $1.25 billion worth of
bonds this year, a 25 percent increase over last year.
As the Israeli government has increased spending
for military and security needs, it "needs more
bonds money for road building, port expansion,
telecommunications, water desalinization, power
and the economic infrastructure," said the
spokesman. El
THE ISSUE
Shortly after the Operation Defensive Shield
incursion into the Jenin refugee camp began this
month, charges of massacre were laid against the
Israeli army. Although the matter is being investi-
gated, Palestinian leadership may have had a
motive for these charges, which has nothing to do
with concern for human life.
BEHIND TEC ISS
second war, the war . ot.:wor
c opinion, is
and the Palestinians.
being waged by both
mned
the
PalestinianAfter
e
World leaders cond
bomber's
attack
on
a
seder
in Netanya last
suicide
month, with the media universally calling it "the
Passover Massacre." So, perhaps, the charges
against Israel's actions in Jenin are an attempt by
Palestinian public relations operatives to reclaim
the term "massacre" for their own use as a weapon
in the public relations battle. -
- Allan Gale, Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit