OTHER VIEWS

JNF Defense Indefensible

New York/JTA

I

magine the following sce-
nario: Italy's Parliament
passes a law that restricts
the sale of public lands to
Christians. Government
officials rush to justify the
measure, citing historic ties
between Italy and the Roman
Catholic Church.
Nonetheless, the conse-
quences of the legislation are
clear: Italian Jews and Muslims are to be
denied fundamental rights that Christian
citizens alone will enjoy.
Jews throughout the world would
demand the immediate repeal of the
offending law and call upon Christian
groups to join their protests.
How, then, can Jews remain silent when
Israel's Knesset stands ready to enshrine
in law the right of an Israeli government
agency to lease public land only to Jews?
The Jewish National Fund holds a place
of honor in the Jewish world.
Since 1948, the JNF has done superb
work in reforestation, water reclamation
and environmental education. Sadly, how-
ever, JNF now insists that policies once
necessary for its mission must be written
into law, even if those policies today can
only damage the state they helped create.
Let there be no mistake: The proposed
law is an abomination that contradicts
Israel's most fundamental values and will
undermine her position throughout the
world.
Not one of the many justifications pro-
vided for this law has any validity:

• The claim is made that JNF land was
purchased for Jewish settlement with the
pennies, nickels and dimes of the Jewish
people throughout the world, and that
these commitments must be honored. In
fact, only about a third of JNF land was
purchased before Israel's founding in 1948.
The remaining two-thirds was trans-
ferred or sold to the JNF by the Israeli
government, often at reduced prices, much
of it from unclaimed or abandoned Arab
land. In short, JNF holdings more accu-
rately can be described as belonging to
the citizens of Israel, including its Arab
citizens.
• The claim is made that the JNF and
the Israel Land Authority (ILA) had a
deal, and the terms of that deal must be
respected. But no democratic government
can accept principles that run counter to
its own values and laws.
• The claim is made that Israel is a

Lease JNF Land To Jews

Jewish state and, as such, it can
favor its Jewish citizens. But to
say this is to misunderstand what
a Jewish state is all about.
As a Jewish state, Israel has, and
must maintain, a secure Jewish
majority. It has, and must main-
tain, a vibrant and aggressively
Jewish national culture. It offers,
and must maintain, preference in
immigration to Jews throughout
the world.
However, as Israel's Declaration
of Independence makes explicitly clear,
preference in immigration is the only legal
right to be granted to Jews that is not also
to be granted to Israel's non-Jewish citi-
zens. Discrimination in all other matters,
including the right to purchase land and
acquire property, is forbidden.
It is unthinkable that Christian and
Muslim Israelis, non-Jewish foreign inves-

Philadelphia/JTA

I

srael's democratically elected Knesset
is right to be pushing forward with a
bill reaffirming that all lands belong-
ing to the Jewish National Fund should
continue to be leased to Jews in accordance
with terms of the organization's charter.
Critics of the measure, which the
Knesset recently approved 64 to16 in the
bill's first reading, misconceive the function
and purpose of the JNF, a body funded by
private donations to purchase and develop
land for Jewish settlement. The critics do
not seem to understand that JNF land is
private land, not state-owned public land.
For more than 100 years, Jews from
around the world put their small change
and small bills into the well-known blue-
and-white JNF boxes in homes, schools
and synagogues. Jews understood there
was a sacred promise that their money

At Issue:

The law in question is the Jewish National Fund law. JNF
owns 13 percent of Israeli land. Since 1960, that land has been administered
by a government agency, the Israel Lands Authority, or ILA, which agreed
that it would act in accordance with the JNF covenant and lease JNF land
only to Jews. To work around this restriction, JNF and ILA have "traded" land;
JNF maintains the same amount of land but in different areas.
In 2005, Israel's attorney general ruled that this policy violated Israeli
anti-discrimination laws, but the ruling was never implemented. Now, as
Israel's Supreme Court stands ready to affirm the attorney general's view, the
Knesset has passed a preliminary bill that would authorize the ILA and JNF to
continue its policy.
The JNF was founded in 1901 by the Zionist movement as the vehicle to pur-
chase land in Palestine for Jewish settlement.

tors and the 700,000 Russian immigrants
whose religious status is unclear will be
prohibited from leasing public lands. It is
unthinkable that a people who has suf-
fered from similar discriminatory laws
throughout its history, including in Iran
and Saudi Arabia today, will now impose
them on others.
We need to think, too, of the reaction to
such legislation in the Vatican, the United
Nations and the International Court of
Justice at the Hague — not to mention
interfaith forums, including those gener-
ally sympathetic to Jews and to Israel.
The JNF is a worthy body. My admira-
tion for its accomplishments is not dimin-
ished by the fact that certain JNF policies
that made sense in another era of history
do not make sense today. But if the JNF
wishes to retain its central role in Jewish
life, it needs to oppose this terrible law.

❑

Rabbi Eric Yoffie is president of the Union for

Reform Judaism.

would buy land in Eretz Yisrael [Land
of Israel] for Jews to emigrate there and
build a Jewish state in our ancient, bibli-
cal homeland. This was the contract, the
promise, the covenant between JNF and
the Jewish people.
There is increasing pressure now to lease
parts of this private land (constituting
about 13 percent of Israel) to Israeli Arabs,
although they already have the right to
lease public Israeli state land (about 70 per-
cent of Israel). Such a step would be wrong.
No one would dream of telling private
land owners like the Catholic Church or the
Muslim Wakf to whom they can lease their
land ... It seems clear that the ;NF contract
with Jewish donors must be respected —
that's why Israel's democratically elected
Knesset voted overwhelmingly to approve
the first reading of a bill to reaffirm that all
private JNF land continue to be leased to
Jews in accordance with the JNF charter.
There are many laws, institutions and
practices in Israel that we all support and

Morton A. Klein and Irwin Hochberg

Counterpoint

that promote and protect the Jewishness
of the state: immigration laws, Jewish edu-
cation in schools, the Jewish-starred flag,
the national anthem, "Hatikvah," which
speaks of the Jewish soul.
As Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent edito-
rialized: "The land in question is not mere
real estate. JNF property is the inheritance
of the entire Jewish people it said, adding
that "JNF policies should stand!'
Those who say this Knesset law proves
that Arabs suffer discrimination in Israel
are speaking nonsense. Like Israeli Jews,
Israeli Arabs are members of the Cabinet
and Knesset and the law courts. They are
consul generals and attend Israeli colleges
and medical and law and graduate schools.
They have full voting rights, citizenship,
medical insurance and pension plans ...
It is also surprising that those orga-
nizations opposed to this bill are not on
record condemning genuine racism and
discrimination in the practices of many
Arab states. In Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority and other Arab states, it is ille-
gal to sell any land to Jews under punish-
ment of death.
Where are the critics when it comes
to genuine human rights abuses in Arab
states? Why do they seek to limit the rights
of Jews to lease privately owned land in
Israel purchased for that very purpose?
Ronald Lauder, president of the JNF, had
it right when he said: "This Knesset deci-
sion reaffirms the vision and the dream
of Theodor Herzl and the millions of Jews
over the past 106 years who contributed
and participated in the rebirth of a Jewish
nation after 2,000 years. The land of Israel
is part of the very existence of the Jewish
people from as far back as Abraham. We
are a people linked to our land. Now and
forever!'
The Knesset bill is one step towards
securing this precious legacy and it
deserves the support of all American
Jewish organizations.

Morton A. Klein is national president of

the Zionist Organization of America. Irwin

Hochberg is vice-chair of the ZOA board.

August 23 • 2007

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