The Week That Was at the Wjc Sixth Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem

Jerusalem and its role in Jewish life was a major theme of the World Jewish Congress Sixth Plenary Assembly. At a symposium on “Jerusalem and the Jewish People.” Dr. Joachim Prinz–speaking as chairman of the WJC Governing Council–declared: “Jews outside Israel can have no role in Israel’s military decisions or in the determination of her political borders, for it is the children of Israel who will do the bleeding and dying to defend them. But in the matter of Jerusalem, the Jewish people have a right to speak–and do speak–as one.

“A united and Jewish Jerusalem is the one non-negotiable item on the agenda of outstanding issues between Israel and her Arab neighbors. There is no Jewish life without a Jewish Jerusalem.” Following addresses by Dr. Prinz, by Prof. Andre Neher (formerly of the University of Strasbourg, now a Jerusalemite), and Prof. Shmaryahu Talmon of the Hebrew University, the WJC Assembly adopted a statement pledging its commitment to “the unity and integrity of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”

The issue of “Israel-diaspora relations” was one of the most nettling questions on the agenda of the WJC Plenary, not only in the commissions and workshops but in the drafty corridors of the Binyanei Ha’Ooma, at the improvised coffee bar outside Pincus Hall (where most of the sessions took place) and over schnitzel-and-salad at the makeshift restaurant at the top of the great staircase.

A major paper on the subject was delivered by Rabbi David Polish of Chicago, former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, who called for an “American Jewish Assembly” that would draft an “alliance of mutuality and accountability” between Israel and the U.S. Jewish community. Asserting that a new form of relationship between Israel and American Jewry must be worked out if both were to survive, Rabbi Polish said:

“The idea that the Jewish people exists for the State of Israel must be rejected. Instead, we assert that Israel exists for the sake of the entire Jewish people, and that Israel and the diaspora exist for each other. Obviously, Israel alone must determine ultimate issues affecting its existence and security such as where its borders shall be.

“By the same token,” Rabbi Polish added, “the diaspora must enjoy its own special areas of autonomy, including respect for its own political wisdom. But the diaspora should also have input in decision-making by Israel on those issues which affect the status and dignity of Jews the world over.”

There was a record registration of youth delegates at the WJC convention, a reflection of the Congress’ growing concern with the problems of Jewish youth. It was the first time special youth delegates had been invited to attend the Plenary Assembly. There were 40 of them, members of national contingents and of the World Union of Jewish Students, which is affiliated with the WJC. Two youth delegates, Ron Finkel, chairman of the WUJS, and Sam Norich of Madison, Wisc., were appointed to the Plenary Assembly’s Presidium.

The U.S. had 10 youth delegates, led by Kenneth Bob of Habonim. It included Levi Kelman, Judy Moch, Sam Norich and Sherman Teichman from Network, a national student organization, Naomi Nobel of Hashachar, Irving Rosenstein of Herut, William Schwartz and Jeffrey Wolpe of Masada, the ZOA youth section, and Chaim Sukenik of Intercollegiate, a movement of university students. The Canadian delegation included Beryl Lazarus and Jack Eisner, national chairman and secretary-general, respectively, of the Canadian Union of Jewish Students.

Foreign Minister Yigal Allon addressed the Assembly on the eve of the arrival of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. Chairing the session was Mrs. Rose Matzkin of New York, president of Hadassah, chairman of the Assembly Commission on Israel and the Middle East.

Allon surprised many in the audience with the observation that in his view the Palestine Liberation Organization’s political status had declined in the Arab world and in the world at large since PLO chief Yasir Arafat’s appearance at the UN. But he was unyielding in explaining Israel’s refusal to negotiate with Arafat’s PLO, “an organization whose essence is terror and whose goal is the liquidation of the Jewish State.”

The growing influence and power of American Jewry on the world Jewish scene was never more evident than at the Assembly–where the 119 accredited U.S. representatives made up the largest delegation–and in the election results.

Elected to the newly-created post of chairman of the Governing Board–regarded as the No. 2 post in the WJC–was Philip M. Klutznick of Chicago, a former president of B’nai B’rith and past chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Three of the five new WJC vice-presidents are also Americans–Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, former president of the AJCongress, and Sam Norich, the 27-year-old Ph.D. candidate from the University of Wisconsin, who was nominated by petition of the assembly youth caucus and elected unanimously by the Plenary Assembly.

Edgar Bronfman of New York, elected chairman of the North American Executive of the WJC, assumes a position formerly held by his late father, Samuel Bronfman, who also was the longtime president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Edgar is an American citizen and lives in N.Y.

At the election itself, which witnessed a tumultuous if fruitless attempt to block Dr. Nahum Goldmann’s election by a Herut faction, the task of calming passions and dealing with unruly delegates was entrusted to the unflappable Jacob Katzman, chairman of the executive committee of the WJC-American Section and executive vice-president of the Labor Zionist Alliance. Earlier, Jacques Torczyner, chairman of the American Section and a former president of the Zionist Organization of America, had presented the slate as chairman of the nominations committee.

Two Americans were also among the WJC’s honorary officers: Mrs. Rose Halprin, former chairman of the WJC-American Section and the grande dame of Zionism in the U.S., and Dr. Maurice L. Perlzweig, long-time head of the WJC’s International Affairs Department, were elected honorary members of the WJC General Council.

Max Melamet, executive director of the WJC-American and North American sections, was re-elected to his post. There was wide praise at the Assembly for Melamet’s comprehensive report on the recently completed General Assembly of the United Nations, where he serves as WJC’s official representative.

Other Americans who played important roles at the WJC Assembly were Dr. Israel Singer, consultant to the Academic Committee of the WJC-American Section, who spoke at the workshop on “Intellectuals in the Community”; Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Assembly, who served as rapporteur of the workshop on “Israel and the Diaspora”; and Phil Baum, associate executive-director of the American Jewish Congress, who addressed the workshop on “Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism”; and Richard Cohen, associate executive-director and public relations director of the AJCongress, who served as liaison officer.

Mrs. Charlotte Jacobson, chairman of the American Section of the World Zionist Organization, told the WJC Commission on Soviet Jewry that the Soviet Jewish struggle must not be allowed to become an election issue in the 1976 Presidential campaign in the U.S. She emphasized that throughout the U.S.-Soviet trade negotiations, President Ford was as personally involved as Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.Wash.).

With both Ford and Jackson regarded as leading contenders for the U.S. presidential nominations in 1976, Mrs. Jacobson said, “American Jewish organizations must not permit the issue of Soviet Jews to become a point of dissension in the election. We must be concerned that neither side should blame the other for the failure of the U.S.-Soviet trade deal, or that an issue is raised between ‘quiet diplomacy’ and ‘open protest.’ The fact is that the Jackson Amendment was included in the trade bill because it was accepted by Dr. Kissinger and President Ford just as it was proposed by Senator Jackson.”

One unexpected divided of the WJC Plenary Assembly was a gift of $10,000 for scholarships to children living in Jerusalem’s Musrarah slum quarter–where the Black Panthers have been active–and a pledge by the Panthers to discontinue future violence against the promise of large-scale support from the World Sephardi Federation.

It all started when WJC leaders met with Panther representatives shortly before the Plenary Assembly and agreed to establish a Commission on the Quality of Life in Israel which would meet during the Assembly. Dr. Israel Katz, former director-general of Israel’s National Insurance Institute, told the Commission that nearly 85 percent of all Israel’s children living in poverty came from Asian-African backgrounds.

During the discussion, Leon Tamman of Great Britain, chairman of the WJC Commission and president of the World Sephardi Federation’s British branch, said the Federation would provide major financial support for the Panther’s welfare program if they gave up the use of violence and agreed to work with the Federation.

Shalom Cohen, Panther leader and ex-Knesset member, took up the challenge and closeted himself with Tamman. That night the British millionaire gave a small dinner party for Panther members and the deal was sealed. As his personal gift, he announced that night his $10,000 gift for scholarships.

The Plenary Assembly began in a rain pour and ended in a blizzard. In between, the delegates and observers from some 50 countries around the world were treated to the whole range of Jerusalem’s raffish winter weather–driving rain and pea-soup fog followed by sudden bursts of sunshine accompanied by hail stones, near cyclone winds and low, ominous clouds.

For delegates staying at the spanking-new Jerusalem Hilton, the weather mattered little. It was a quick 100-yard dash from the Assembly in Jerusalem’s convention center–the Binyanei Ha’Ooma–to the Hilton, and the delegates hardly got wet. For those staying at the King David Hotel across town, it meant a taxi ride back and forth every morning and evening and at mid-day, too, if they wanted to go back to their rooms for an additional sweater or muffler.

The Assembly delegates were divided into numerous factions–pro-Goldmann, anti-Goldmann, pro-Kissinger, anti-Kissinger, pro-Agranat report, anti-Agranat report. But the issue that appeared to divide them most was the question of the Jerusalem Hilton vs. the King David.

The traditionalists favored the King David by virtue of its age, distinguished service to Jewry, extraordinary furnishings and familiar surroundings: everyone knew Azar, the assistant manager, the doorman had kissed more Zionists than anyone in history, and everybody knew where the ladies’ and gents’ rooms were. Besides, didn’t Henry Kissinger choose to stay there when he came to Jerusalem?

The pro-Hiltonites pointed to its sparkling new public rooms, marble floors, high-speed automatic elevators and superior food (even the King David crowd admitted that), its beautiful shops and the smiling, determined-to-be helpful staff put together by an obviously effective customer-relations program directed by two ex-Americans-Harriet Mouchly and Mary Stewart Krosney.

The result was a stand-off. When Kissinger’s advance staff moved in to the King David shortly before the end of the Plenary Assembly and began to shift WJC delegates about, the delegates living there began to chafe. Their discontent was matched only by the complaints of the Hilton residents stuck in the Judea bar when a power failure turned off the lights for three hours, late one night shortly before adjournment. By general consent, the first round was a draw.

Jacques Torczyner said that U.S. Jewry has reached an unprecedented position of influence and prestige, but “one of the great weaknesses of the American Jewish community is that it has no democratically elected central authority.” The only group that claims to speak for the majority of Jews is the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, he said. “But that speaks out mainly on issues of policy concerning Israel. It is not a legislative and deliberative body, but rather operates by consensus. While it has done an excellent job, it does not represent the totality of American Jewry on issues other than Israel.”

Lord Fisher of Camden, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was an eagerly-listened to speaker when he addressed the Assembly on the occasion of the Board’s formal admission into the WJC. Lord Fisher said the moment was “historic,” adding:

“This Plenary Assembly has already given us an opportunity to develop a sense of common interest with our brethren from distant lands whom we normally would rarely if ever meet. As we grow together through the World Jewish Congress, each can help the other in self-protection and together we can help Israel, the homeland we all love.”