washington | Dismay over the American Jewish leadership’s perceived reluctance to press the Bush administration to work toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is behind a series of recent meetings aimed at pressing the case forward.
Jewish organizational officials who have participated in the meetings said JTA’s characterization of their aim in a recent story as an alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was wrong.
Top AIPAC officials, who first heard of the effort from JTA’s report, agreed, and said they did not consider the group extraordinary.
It was clear, however, that those behind the initiative believe AIPAC — the pre-eminent pro-Israel lobby — and other major Jewish groups have not pressed the Bush administration forcefully enough to engage more fully in the region, something they believe endangers Israel’s security.
“It’s a set of conversations of people trying to have the United States and the American Jewish community more proactive in efforts to restart an initiative to resolve the Middle East conflict,” said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center. “Neither I nor the Religious Action Center are going to be part of something that’s anti-AIPAC.”
Saperstein is taking a lead role in the effort, along with David Elcott, executive director of the Israel Policy Forum; Jeremy Ben-Ami, a Clinton administration policy adviser who now works for Fenton Communications, a Washington public relations giant; and Mort Halperin, a veteran of the Clinton, Johnson and Nixon administrations who directs U.S. advocacy for billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Institute.
Each participant stressed that they were acting as individuals and not necessarily on behalf of their organizations.
The conversations will continue at an Oct. 25 meeting in New York of potential funders. Right now, it seems Soros and Charles Bronfman are taking the most serious interest, according to organizers.
Soros, who is best known for advocating democracy abroad and opposing the Bush administration on foreign policy, has not previously been involved in Jewish initiatives.
Bronfman is one of the biggest philanthropists to Jewish and Israel causes and helped initiate Birthright Israel, the program that funds visits to Israel for young diaspora Jews. Bronfman’s office did not return a call seeking comment.
Edgar Bronfman, Charles’ brother and another mega-donor to Jewish and Israel causes, was invited, but won’t participate.
News of the initiative emerged in part because of a rift at the inaugural Sept. 13 meeting in Washington over the degree to which AIPAC should be confronted. There were a number of representatives at that meeting who have directly challenged what they believe is AIPAC’s hawkishness.
Those currently leading the effort say they’re happy to work with AIPAC.
A statement from the Israel Policy Forum said the idea was to explore common ground, not expand on differences.
IPF “engaged in these very preliminary discussions in order to seek commonality with other American pro-Israel groups and individuals who share IPF’s conviction that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict … best serves the interests of Israel, stability in the Middle East and American foreign policy,” it said.
AIPAC favors a two-state solution, but they and other groups became much more cautious after the Oslo peace process collapsed and a radical Islamist leadership that rejects Israel’s existence emerged among Palestinians.