Leading British-Jewish communal leaders are looking for ways to increase Jews' charitable donations to Israeli-Arabs.

Senior Jewish community leaders taking part in a day-long conference to that end in London last week said that boosting the status and prosperity of the Arabs is vital to Israel's democracy. So reports the EJP (European Jewish Press).



Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski and Israeli Education Minister Yuli Tamir sent their blessings to the conference.



Charles Keidan, director of the Pears Foundation, a Jewish philanthropic organization that organized the event, said, "If we do not give to these causes [of Arabs in Israel], we create imbalances within Israeli society which only serve to undermine our own aim to create a prosperous, just and stable Israel."



Bielski, executive chairman of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, sent a written blessing to the event: "It is my honor and pleasure to offer my blessings on the occasion of the London symposium on Israeli Arabs.”



Similarly, Education Minister Tamir, a founder of Peace Now, wrote, "Enlightened and progressive initiatives such as this demonstrate the commitment and concern that many Jewish people around the world share with the inhabitants of the State of Israel to create a just, stable and democratic country."



"The aim of the event," Keidan told EJP, "was to create an opportunity where the mainstream of the Jewish community could learn more about, and give more to, the role of Arabs in Israel."



A spokesman for the Jewish Agency explained to Arutz-7 that Bielski has long felt that the Arabs of Israel, as full-fledged citizens of the State, must not be discriminated against. "We are not just the Jewish Agency," he said, "but the Jewish Agency of Israel, and this includes all its citizens."

Not all of the Jewish Agency board members agree. Danny Danon, elected Chairman of the World Likud last year, said that Bielski's position is "very grave and stands in opposition to the Zionist movement and the Jewish Agency. It is true that Arabs must be treated equally - but that's for the government to deal with. The Jewish Agency was created by the Nation of Israel for the people of Israel - but now he's turning it into UNRWA or something. If someone wants money for the Arab sector, he can go to the Waqf or other bodies in Israel."



Danon said that Bielsky has introduced a change in Jewish Agency policy without bringing it before the Executive Board and the Zionist Congress for discussion and vote. "If he wants to institute changes," Danon said, "he will find that he is in the minority and that the majority wants the Jewish Agency to concentrate on Jewish problems."



Danon said he is still waiting for an answer from Bielsky as to how much money raised during last year's emergency war campaign was diverted to Arab causes. "I asked him how much, and he said it was 'not a lot.' But that could be millions! How can it be that money raised to help Israel during a war is given to Arab municipalities, some of which declared their support for Hizbullah?!"



The Jewish Agency was created in 1929 to represent the Jews in the Holy Land, and its mission statement today still specifies goals in keeping with that objective: "Aliyah, Jewish-Zionist Education, and Partnerships with Israel."



Within two months of the end of last summer's war, some $320 million had been raised for refurbishing the north. Accusations were raised that up to 30% of the money had been used for Arab causes, while a Jewish Agency source said at the time that it was "only" 3%.



Danon explained that donors in the United States could make a difference by informing their local Jewish Federations that they will stop donating money until they hear that all of their money will be used for Jewish causes.



"The way it works," explained Danon, "is that 70-80% of money raised by the Federations is used for local causes, and the rest is funneled back to the Jewish Agency in Israel. If some large donors and many smaller donors threaten to stop giving, the Jewish Agency will have to take notice."

Click here for a detailed article on this topic by Lori Lowenthal Marcus.

Bielski can be emailed at [email protected] or [email protected]



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