Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, tells Israel National News that the divide is big between the right and left of the political spectrum in the Jewish community but his organization has worked hard to bring both sides together in support of Israel and other issues.
“I think we’ve had great success in keeping all sides of the political spectrum united in support of the major important causes that affect the Jewish community, fighting antisemitism, building security, supporting our communities, and so our work to bring people together is succeeding,” he says. “But there’s not question this is a challenging partisan time.”
When it comes to issues regarding Israel that cause debate in the community, such as the Western Wall and other religious issues, Fingerhut comments: “We are following very closely what happens in Israel, the overwhelming support for Israel’s security and safety and pride in the Abraham Accords. However, there has been grave concern about the bad treatment of Jews who’ve come from North America to participate in simchas in Israel, particularly at the Ezrat Yisrael section of the Kotel [Egalitarian Section of the Western Wall], which was set aside for egalitarian prayer.”
He adds: “We brought that to the attention of the Israeli public and the Israeli government because we know that Israel wants to be a welcoming place for all Jews from around the world and we know that Israelis if they're aware of it will want to fix the problem.”
When asked if he thinks Diaspora Jews could and should be involved with internal issues happening in Israel, he explains that his organization doesn’t want to interfere but wants to “make concerns known” so that the Israeli government can address the matter.
“That's part of our job, to make sure you're aware of what the concerns are of Jews around the world,” he says. “We know you care about Jews around the world but our main job is to build support for Israel here in North America which we do every day.”
Fingerhut says that he is very excited to work with the new head of the Jewish Agency, Doron Almog.
“He’s a genuine wonderful man. We know of his unbelievable record of service to the Jewish people in Israel and we’re excited to see that record translate to the Jewish people of the world,” he says.
Jewish Federations of North America has raised over $100 million to provide support for humanitarian needs in Ukraine and to rescue Jews trapped in the war-torn country.
“When there are Jews at risk anywhere in the world we’re going to respond, which includes both the Jewish Agency’s rescue and aliyah efforts, and the Joint Distribution Committee’s humanitarian efforts,” he says.
“I also want to add that our Jewish partners and our donors want to make sure that every Jew has the safety and security, and cares deeply about the humanitarian efforts. We know that Jews are ultimately a very small part of this overall humanitarian crisis and while making sure the Jews have the help they need, we also want to contribute to the overall humanitarian issues around the world.”
Speaking about the challenge of combating antisemitism, especially online, Fingerhut says: “We’re very active in our communities building the relationships and countering the messages. Social media is a whole other realm of challenge and we are getting better at responding on social media but there’s no question that what used to be more targeted at certain segments, perhaps colleges, is now affecting all our young people, every age, and affecting civil society overall. So this is an area that we need to be working on together to counter.”