Photo from the Republican Jewish Coalition

"f dont think Israel
has any .1%-al
moral justification
for their massive
bombing of the
entire nati(.)u
)011.
of

GOP Sting

"1 represent the.

ylst majority of

I Xitiocrats.

Hit by Republican
ads on Israel,
Democrats defend
party in online chat.

Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washington

A

n online Israel chat hosted
by top Democrats in the U.S.
Congress outlined sharp differ-
ences with the Bush administration and
suggested that an aggressive GOP cam-
paign portraying Democrats as cool on
the Jewish state has made inroads.
Major differences between the parties
that arose in the chat with the Democrats'
Israel Working Group included Iraq's dan-
ger to Israel and Syria's role in peace talks.
The willingness to highlight those differ-
ences reflects a broader Democratic strat-

egy this election of vigorously confronting
President Bush on foreign policy, an area
the Democratic Party more or less con-
ceded in the midterm elections in 2002.
But the consistent message relayed Oct.
27 by the six members of Congress on the
chat was that the Democrats' support for
Israel is unwavering. "Republicans have
recently attempted to put a partisan spin
on an issue that has always been able to
rise above party lines;' Rep. Alcee Hastings
(Fla.) said. He was "uncomfortable with
some of the party's fringes, mainly those
who blindly take the Palestinian side in
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
"For Israel's sake, this issue must con-
tinue to receive unwavering support from
majorities on both sides of the aisle
In the weeks before midterm elections,
the Republican Jewish Coalition has
blitzed Jewish media with ads focusing
on two polls that show that a plural-
ity of Democrats favor neutrality in the
Middle East. The ads, which ignore a
third poll that shows that a solid majority
of Democrats favor Israel, also highlight

411iirns ,t,f
statements by former President
Carter questioning Israel's
moral authority.
"The fact that they had to
fte<efit Otits9 soweits Carter does
art Democrats in their ab.irtionmerst
have this call is a testament to
of IStael right to defend itsott
the impact our ads have had
Wrz.:
cr,O,
-
41-WN WOO
.S.prrizmn, arr1 C3 *Vt. to
itleNwxv
and underscores the impor-
4vitwt is
CriX1
racy
tance of the issues we've been
raising:' said Matt Brooks, the
It's time you ask yourself: Does the
RJC's executive director.
Democratic Party still represent you?
The GOP asked whether the
Democrats, "trying to portray
yourself as friends of Israel;'
A Republican Jewish coalition ad
would unequivocally say Carter featuring Jimmy Carter
was wrong for describing
Israel's settlement policies as
apartheid" in a forthcoming book. Rep.
Another sign of how seriously
Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), the minority leader,
Democrats were taking the RJC onslaught
responded. "With all due respect to former was a Democratic National Committee
President Carter, he does not speak for the ad appearing this weekend in Jewish
Democratic Party on Israel," she replied. "It newspapers citing an American Jewish
is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people
Committee poll that shows that U.S. Jews
would support a government in Israel or
trust Democrats more on Iraq, Iran and
anywhere else that institutionalizes ethni-
terrorism.
cally based oppression, and Democrats
reject that allegation vigorously"

44,.:.4 01 •

i'r2f414 zt9*0,-4 til0s,

It*

((

$228 Million

Agency starts pay-
ing Israel's tab to
rebuild its rocket-
battered north.

Dina Kraft
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Acre, Israel

S

alwa Zawawi's tiny sewing shop
in Acre's Old City virtually shut
down during Israel's month-
long war with Hezbollah last summer as
Katyusha rockets fell on the city. It wasn't
clear whether Zawawi's business would
survive. But a grant of about $930 from
the Jewish Agency for Israel has helped
her cover rent, buy fabric and keep the
doors open.
"The money came just in time,' said
her son, Fuad Zawawi. The grant was
one of about 1,000 that JAFI gave to
small-business owners in the north. The
money was drawn from the $320 million
raised during and after the war as part
of the United Jewish Communities' Israel

Emergency Campaign. About $92 million
was distributed through UJC's partners in
Israel, JAFI and the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee, during the war
and immediately afterward. How is the
remaining $228 million being spent?
The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors
met in Jerusalem last week, its first
gathering since the war, in large part to
address that question. "We're here to see
what's happening after the war;' said Jane
Sherman of Detroit, co-chairwoman of the
agency's Israel Department, as she toured
Acre with a group of fellow board mem-
bers. Sherman's department is overseeing
the postwar expenditures.
JAFI will distribute grants and lon-
ger-term loans of up to $75,000 to small
businesses in the north, accompanied
by consultations on business plans. Such
assistance "helps encourage people to stay
in the region;' Sherman said.
Small businesses were among the hard-
est hit sectors during the war. Many closed
for the entire month of the war, with no
money coming in, yet their bills and over-
head remained. While larger businesses
probably could absorb that kind of loss, it
was not so clear small ones could.
Shmuel Miron, owner of an electronics

repair store in Acre, also
received a grant from
JAFI. "As someone who
comes from the world of
small business, I know
that we can often get lost
in the shuffle said the
Romanian-born Miron,
63, who immigrated to
The mayor of Kiryat Shmona, Haim Barbibai, addresses
Israel as a teenager.
members of the Jewish Agency board of governors in a
During the war, JAFI
bomb shelter in his town, refurbished with funds raised
provided funds to place
by the UJC Israel emergency campaign.
air conditioning units
government, which is wary of the current
in bomb shelters and send about 25,000
children to summer camps in the center of demographic situation. A little more than
the country. Postwar projects also include
half of the Galilee population is Arab.
Other informal education projects
education, including $1,000 scholarships
would bring volunteer tutors into after-
for students in the north.
Adding another incentive to study in the school programs. Educational enrichment
programs for immigrant children also
north — northern colleges suffered a 60
percent dip in registration this fall — JAFI would be a focus.
is giving $1,000 scholarships to Israelis
"This is a rare opportunity to make
changes in the north:' Sherman said.
who served in the army during the war.
The remaining $210 million from the
Fostering regional pride also is on the
postwar agenda: There are plans for a pro- emergency fund is expected to go toward
trauma counseling for children and to
gram to take schoolchildren on field trips
around the north and teach them its histo- repair hospitals, schools and JAFI-owned
buildings damaged by the war.
ry. Increasing the Jewish population in the
Galilee and investing in its development
has been a long-term goal of the Israeli

November 2. 2006

77