|
|
April 12, 2002/Nisan 30, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 30
UJC launches emergency campaign
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - The North American Jewish federation system launched an emergency campaign for Israel and Argentina this week, raising an initial $13 million from its board of trustees.
Meeting in New York on April 8, the United Jewish Communities moved forward with a plan to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for emergency needs for the Jewish state, such as assistance to victims of terrorism, crisis management and rebuilding infrastructure damaged in terrorist attacks.
At the same time, UJC's president and CEO, Stephen Hoffman, announced preliminary plans to cut the federation umbrella group's $44.7 million operating budget by 5 percent as of July.
Details still need to be hammered out by the budget committee and board.
In addition to generating an influx of new funds for Israel, the new campaign, called "We Stand With Israel Now and Forever," also will incorporate most of an existing $42.5 million campaign for Argentine Jews.
Most of the funds for the Argentine campaign was to resettle Jews who immigrate to Israel. A small portion, which is not being folded into the Israel campaign, goes for relief efforts and community needs for Jews staying in Argentina.
Many federation activists noted that they expect raising money for the campaign to be fairly easy, as large numbers of American Jews are concerned about Israel right now and eager to do something to help.
The UJC is also hoping to coordinate pro-Israel rallies in communities around the country in the coming month.
In a caucus session of the board of trustees meeting that was closed to the media on April 8, individual lay leaders took turns making pledges for the new campaign, with cash gifts of more than $13 million promised. The meeting adjourned an hour early, so that 34 people could leave for Israel. Another 160 departed for Argentina on the night of April 8.
The Israel mission was slated to include a visit to the Park Hotel in Netanya, where a suicide bomber killed 27 people at a Passover seder.
The board meeting - which began with a 10-minute service marking Holocaust Remembrance Day - was marked by an atmosphere of urgency and had little of the rancor or quibbling over details that have characterized many UJC meetings in recent years.
That was particularly evident in the brief discussion over the budget, an issue that has been highly contentious in past years.
The 5-percent cuts proposed were considerably less than most large-city federations have been clamoring for. The cuts will also likely reduce services smaller federations enjoy, but no one raised objections to the budget at the meeting.
|
