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February 25, 2005/Adar I 16 5765, Volume 57, No. 26
Conference of presidents backs Sharon's plan
DINA KRAFT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - At a luncheon on Feb. 20, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations leaned over to tell Israel's Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz something he knew Mofaz wanted to hear. James Tisch said the conference backs Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
Later that day, at a dinner for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the King David Hotel, Tisch introduced Sharon, saying, "The Conference of Presidents proudly supports and has supported your historic disengagement plan. Your role as a great and patriotic leader is noted."
Tisch's decisive words seemed aimed at quashing the perception that the leadership of American Jewry was not staunchly behind Sharon's plan. The prime minister soon will begin to remove Israeli forces and settlements from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for the first time since Israel took control of those areas during the Six Day War in June 1967.
Sharon told more than 100 leaders of major American Jewish organizations that their support is crucial. A Cabinet decision earlier that day paved the way for Sharon to sign the order that will lead to the evacuation of approximately 8,500 Jews who live in 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank.
"In this sensitive and complicated period, there is great importance to the support and solidarity of the Jewish communities for the State of Israel. Your support of the State of Israel, your standing by our side, is important now, maybe more than ever," Sharon told the conference.
In September, when Sharon's plan began to seem as if it might win Cabinet backing, American Jewish groups had a hard time finding a consensus position. At that time, the Conference of Presidents said it was not yet ready to take a position that could accurately reflect the beliefs of all its constituent groups.
Soon after, however, when the Knesset passed legislation in favor of disengagement for the first time, a stronger statement was issued, saying there was consensus support for the plan. Even that statement, however, drew criticism from some Jewish leaders as being too tepid.
"My view, both in the past and now," says Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Reform movement in the United States, "is that it's the conference's job to be chief public advocate in the United States for the disengagement plan and for the positions of the prime minister. We're facing a very difficult period in the three to five months ahead, so let the conference assume that role."
Most other members of the conference, an umbrella group representing 52 American Jewish organizations, said they personally supported disengagement even if their own organizations had not taken a formal stand on it.
During the conference mission to Israel, the members met with leading Israeli political and military officials. Efforts were made to arrange a meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the conference. But logistics and timing made the meeting impossible to arrange.
The conference did, however, meet with a panel of Palestinian academics, who discussed the challenges ahead of Abbas and the shifting mood on the Palestinian street. Surveys show an increase of those opposed to the use of violence as a political means among Palestinians, the academics said.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Orthodox Park East Synagogue in New York City, who heads the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith group, said his personal support for disengagement comes with a heavy heart.
"On the one hand, there is a great deal of sadness and compassion for those who will be uprooted as a result of the disengagement," he said. But citing the government's decision to go ahead with the plan, he added, "We can only hope and pray that as a result of this co-existence between Palestinian and Israelis will be on track."
The most outspoken voice at the conference against disengagement was from the Zionist Organization of America.
"We think the withdrawal is a serious mistake which will increase, in all likelihood, terror because terrorism is being rewarded," said ZOA President Morton Klein. "Our role is to support what we think is good for Israel, not to support all Israeli governments."
At a community center in Sderot, Rabbi Emmanuel Holzer, an Orthodox rabbi with the Rabbinical Council of America, approached Aharon Polat, who has lived in the Gaza settlement of Eli Sinai for eight years.
Polat, who is in favor of the disengagement despite the fact that he will have to leave his home, told the conference members that unity at this time is paramount.
Holzer's message to Polat was brief but direct: He said that there are many religious Jews in the United States who would support him during the painful process of leaving Gaza. "The idea is to live and to win rather than to die and surrender," Holzer said.
JTA Staff Writer Rachel Pomerance and Copy Editor Joanne Palmer in New York contributed to this report.
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