By LORI LOWENTHAL MARCUS, JPOST
Some of the money mainstream Jewish donors think is being used to help preserve Israel as the Jewish homeland is actually being used to undermine Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
Most American and other Jews use Jewish Federations as a kind of mutual fund adviser, which makes decisions about and invests their donors’ funds in programs they have vetted and determined to be in accordance with the donors’ wishes. In turn, most Federations channel funds designated for Israel programs through the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Three of the principal goals of JAFI are to develop Jewish communities in the Galilee and the Negev, encourage aliya, and promote Jewish continuity, with Israel as the linchpin. All three of those goals, however, would be considered illegitimate colonizing enterprises by at least one of JAFI’s grantees – the Mossawa Center, an Arab-Israeli thank tank. Mossawa seems committed to eliminating every one of them.
Mossawa, which is funded indirectly by the Jewish Agency, disseminated a report declaring that Israel cannot be both a democracy and a Jewish state. According to that document, which represents the view of many Arab-Israeli elites, and of Arab local authorities – as stated in a separate but nearly identical manifesto – the Jewish state is inherently illegitimate. It must be recast as a bi-national state. CONTINUE
