JNF Celebrates
Israel at 60

A Partnership of Dreams,
Miracles and Vision

For over a century, Jewish National Fund has helped realize
the dreams of Jews around the world to create and strengthen
the Jewish homeland.

With ingenuity, determination, sweat, faith and your generosity,
JNF took an arid land and made it green. This partnership has
produced miraculous results. JNF has:

Kenneth Stein

Bernie Marcus

political stability, are in my view
equally existential."
The first step to closing the divi-
sions is to enact a Bill of Rights that
"would define not just the rights of
each person, but it would set norms
that have not been in existence
Carmon said. "It would allow a demo-
cratic society to live together with
one another!'
That's the basic argument advo-
cates of a constitution use regarding
both non-Jewish minorities and those
religious Jews who insist the Torah is
the only constitution a Jewish state
needs. In either case, they can join
the constitutional process and get the
best deal possible for their interests,
or they can sit it out and lose any
voice in the outcome, which still will
produce a constitution.
Thus, Carmon said, diminishing
numbers of rabbis oppose the draft-
ing of a constitution, and 75 percent
of Israeli Arabs support the adop-
tion of a constitution that defines
Israel as a Jewish state, provided that
the document ensures equality for
minorities.
Ambassador Reda Mansour, the
Druze diplomat who serves as Israel's
consul general to the Southeast, said
most Druze are comfortable living in
a Jewish state as long as that doesn't
mean they are second-class citizens.
Without a constitution, the Druze
usually aren't treated equally, even
though they have the same obliga-
tions as Jewish Israelis, such as mili-
tary service.
The issue is more complicated for
the Arab Muslim minority, Mansour
said, because the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict remains unresolved. Israel
doesn't even have defined borders, so
it's hard to define its national identity.
Without knowing whether a
Palestine will exist as a neighbor to
Israel, it's hard for Israel to complete
a constitution, he said.

Bart Cohen

Stein, however, doesn't think the
conflict must be resolved for Israel
to enact a constitution. He said the
centrist majority that has formed in
Israel can enumerate the rights and
privileges of the government and
individuals regardless of the size
of Israel. "I think religious liberty,
gender equality, civil rights, human
rights — the clarion bells of liberal
democracy — will all be ringing
through the Israeli constitution!'

Rallying Public Opinion
But first the Israeli public has to
become galvanized behind the drive
for a constitution. While Stein and
Carmon are sure most Israelis would
like a constitution, that doesn't mean
it's a big issue to them.
While the constitution has been on
the political agenda for 20 years or
more, it has been of far more interest
among think tanks and universities
than the general public, Mansour
said. "With all the intifadas and wars
and difficulties we had in the last two
decades, it was very difficult to focus
the public opinion on something that
looks more long term and more theo-
retical!'
He said the government and the
Knesset, despite occasional statement
in favor of a constitution, have done
little to make it a reality.
The Knesset Committee on the
Constitution, Law and Justice held
more than 50 hearings on the con-
stitution from 2003 to 2006, held a
debate on proposal in February 2006
and produced an exhaustive document
with endless variations for each article
in the constitution, with the expecta-
tion that the 17th Knesset, elected in
March 2006, would pick up the task
and bring a constitution to a vote by
this month.
Two think tanks presented com-

Identity Crisis on page A28

■ Developed more than
250,000 acres of land and
planted 240 million trees

Built 200 water projects that
add 34 billion gallons to
Israel's water resources

Kids from Sderot relax at JNF camps.

■ Provided the infrastructure for
1,000 communities

■ Launched the -transformation
of Be'er Sheva, the Negev's
capital, through Blueprint
Negev

A new community JNF is building
in the Negev, Israel's southern region.

▪ Built security roads along the
Lebanese and Gaza borders to
protect Israeli citizens

■ Restored hundreds of
heritage sites associated with
Israel's rebirth

JNF-funded fire trucks respond to
emergency situations.

■ Engaged American Jewish
youth through transformative
educational experiences and
travel to Israel

■ Helped Sderot residents with vital security and recreational

outlets, and continues to assist this community

lbgether, we will strengthen the land of Israel for the next 60
years. Your support will enable us to purchase fire trucks that respond
to emergencies, build accessible parks for people with special needs, and
realize Ben-Gurion's vision of developing the Negev, Israel's next frontier.

Be part of Israel's story by being part of its future.

Contact JNF today
www.jnf.org • 1-888-JNF-0099

JNF, for

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JEWISH
NATIONAL FUND
www.jnf.org

ISRAEL

forever.

May 15 • 2008

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