funding its overseas partners, includ-
ing the Jewish Agency and the
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, which runs programs
such as relief and welfare for Jews in
the former Soviet Union and the
absorption of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.
And it "will fall significantly short"
this year, according to the national
G.A. chair, Richard . Wexler.
The Israel Emergency Campaign,
which has tallied $326 million to
date, is separate from the ONAD
process.
Budget Noose
frame the issue as an evolutionary
kink: Although the U.S. Constitution
was created in 1789, he said, "most
people would agree that it took at
least until 1865 to settle the issues of
federalism. This system is what —
three years old? The issues of federal-
ism have not been solved."
Others see a more threatening pat-
tern. "I think one has to be able to
connect the dots and see there is a
growing issue and that it's UJC's
responsibility to engage on a 24-7
basis with the federations," Wexler
said. "We're at a point where with
engagement and with consulting and
dialogue, that UJC can emerge from
this stronger.
"Without it, this will spread and
that will pull the underpinnings out
from a strong national system."
According to Wexler, increasing
noncompliance among federations is
For those federations resisting their
financial obligations, it is often a mat-
ter of juggling tight budgets. Ellen
Masters, a member of the board of the
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires in
Massachusetts, explained the new fair-
shares formula has
increased its national
dues from $13,000 to
$30,400.
Phyllis Lannick,
women's campaign
chair of the United
Jewish Federation of
Tidewater, which has
cited its own budget
constraints, called on
the UJC to make sure
its budget "has been
looked at and is as lean
and mean as it can be."
And a representative
from the Raleigh-Cary
Jewish Federation in
North Carolina cap-
tured both the impact
of lean budgets and
dissatisfaction with the
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky speaks
system in his blunt
at the General Assembly.
comment: We want
more and we want to
pay less."
But many federation
leaders echo Hoffman's distinction
an outgrowth of a trend on the local
between compliance on dues and
level for donors to designate their dol-
other areas. It's the "difference
lars to certain needs rather than
between a speed limit and a caution
entrusting federations to make deci-
sign," said David Mallach, assistant
sions.
executive vice president of the United
Richard Friedman, executive vice
Jewish Communities of Metrowest
president of the Birmingham Jewish
New Jersey, referring to paying dues
Federation in Alabama, thinks federa-
and implementing the second year of
tions are swinging back to a strong,
the Israel Emergency Campaign.
central institution, and they are sim-
But Mallach thinks the UJC is
ply struggling to nail the right blend.
strong. Referring to the Israel
"What's different today is a recogni-
Emergency Campaign, he said, "If
tion that the Jewish people are facing
people didn't trust the system, they
serious and daunting issues," he said.
wouldn't have turned over their IEC
"When we act collectively, in a cre-
campaign dollars."
ative way, we can make ,a dramatic
Mallach used American history to
impact." ❑
Disoriented
New draft of "road map" raises alarm
among Jewish leaders.
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington, D. C.
srael backers are raising
numerous concerns about the
latest version of the U.S. "road
map" for Middle East peace.
Analysts and Jewish leaders say
the latest version, currently being
hammered out in Washington,
diverges from President George W.
Bush's June 24 speech, in which he
called for new Palestinian leaders
and said a Palestinian state could be
created only after significant institu-
tional reforms. They also say
Israel has not been consulted
enough in the preparation
of the document.
Also of concern is the
fact that the State
Department — which is
considered to be softer on
the Palestinians — is
working on the plan, rather
than the White House,
whose views on the conflict
are considered closer to Israel's.
"The concern is that some of the
key players credited with crafting
Bush's speech are now focused on
Iraq," said one official with a Jewish
organization. "Some of the other
folks, in the State Department, have
moved to fill the vacuum."
Israel has complained that it .
learned about the revised road map
only from news reports. Housing
and Construction Minister Natan
Sharansky raised some of Israel's
concerns during a visit to
Washington last week.
Conceived in conjunction with
America's "Quartet" partners — the
United Nations, European Union
and Russia — the road map has
been under revision for more than a
month, addressing concerns raised
by all sides. It is expected to be
released when Quartet leaders meet
in Washington on Dec. 20. Israeli
officials want the release postponed
until after Israeli elections on Jan.
28.
The road map calls for a three-
stage approach leading to an interim
Palestinian state in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip next year, and the
I
creation of a permanent state by the
end (4'2005.
The first stage demands the
appointment of a new Palestinian
Authority Cabinet and the creation
of a prime minister's post. It also
demands that Israel improve humani-
tarian conditions for Palestinians in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip and
dismantle any settlement outposts
created under the Sharon govern-
ment.
Later, it would require the
Palestinians to write a constitution,
and also calls for a monitoring sys-
tem led by the Quartet to ensure that
the two sides meet their commit-
ments. It also calls on Israel to
withdraw troops from all
areas occupied since the
Palestinian uprising began
in September 2000 and to
freeze all settlement activi-
ty.
The second phase, which
would run through the end
of 2003, begins with
Palestinian elections in January
and an international conference
to form a provisional Palestinian
state.
The third phase, due in 2004 and
2005, calls for a second conference
and negotiations toward a final peace
agreement.
Israeli Concerns
The new version does not address
some of the fundamental concerns
that Israel raised last month.
Specifically, Israel is concerned that
the road map does not repeat Bush's
demand for a change in Palestinian
leadership and does- not set standards
that the Palestinians must meet
before the sides progress from stage
to stage.
Israel wants the steps to be per-
formance-based, not dictated by a
timeline that runs regardless of how
well the Palestinians honor their
commitments, as was the case under
the Oslo peace accords. "We've had
very negative experiences with time-
lines in the past," an Israeli official
said.
Israel is also not happy that
DISORIENTED on page 24
air
11/29
2002
92