new york | The resignation of one of the most powerful professionals in Jewish life came as a surprise to many of those closest to him — and sparked rumors throughout the Jewish world about Sallai Meridor’s future plans.
After six years as head of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization, Meridor said he would leave after the Jewish Agency’s board of governors’ meeting in June, a year before his term ends.
Meridor’s resignation comes one week after Natan Sharansky, resigned last week as Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs because of his objection to the government’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Some Jewish communal officials wonder if a job swap between the two men is in the works. Others say Sharansky’s anti-disengagement stance would make him an unlikely candidate to represent Israel and world Jewry through the Jewish Agency, which facilitates immigration to Israel and runs Zionist education programs worldwide.
Sharansky adviser Aryeh Green said that Sharansky “is not pursuing and never has pursued any position at the Jewish Agency.”
“The idea that this was some sort of a deal worked out, that Sharansky resigns and then Meridor resigns, is way out of left field,” he said.
Rumors abound that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may offer Meridor the post of ambassador to Britain or the United States.
Others suggest that Meridor, who supports the Gaza withdrawal, could be appointed as Sharon’s special ambassador on that issue.
“Sharon needs an ambassador who supports disengagement and who is not a civil servant but a person of stature, a politician,” one source said.
“I believe that the best interest of public organizations require change, and that as a norm public servants should not stay in their chairs forever. Accordingly, the question before me for the past few months has been when to make the change — now or a year from now,” Meridor wrote.
Leaving now will allow his successor to “vigorously commence the implementation of the strategic plan,” a new action plan the group is putting into place that will focus on building Jewish and Zionist identity worldwide, with particular emphasis on youth.
Many of those closest to Meridor take him at his word.
“I can’t emphasize it enough: There’s no hidden agenda Jewish organizational officials were stunned by the announcement, which comes as efforts are being made to restore order to the agency, which boasts a $350 million annual budget and has emissaries around the world.
Meridor has pushed for reforms to streamline the Jewish Agency, which some have criticized as a bloated bureaucracy. During his tenure, the agency created a strategic plan to nurture the Zionist identity of diaspora Jews, and launched MASA, a partnership with the Israeli government to subsidize diaspora youth on short- and long-term programs in Israel.
Meridor also has pushed for aliyah from North America and helped create the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, an Israeli think tank.