The recent terrorist bomb attack on the United States and French forces in Beirut, in which close to 300 servicemen were killed, “emphasizes the role and importance of U.S. and Israel being in accord on goals and strategies for peace in the Middle East,” it was affirmed in a resolution on the Middle East adopted here at the 52nd General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations which concluded its five-day gathering Sunday.
The resolution urged “a strong continuation of the U.S. mediating role in the Middle East, working in close harmony with the Israel government.” To accomplish this there will be “continued need for U.S. economic and military aid to Israel, to assure the strength and stability of the only country which is committed to the peace policy in the Middle East,” the resolution stated.
The situation in Lebanon, the resolution continued, has “demonstrated anew that Israel is America’s sole stable and dependable ally in the region and hence, the necessity for strengthening United States-Israeli cooperation.”
The resolution commended “steps already taken in that direction” and called upon the U.S. government “to move forward with other measures strengthening strategic cooperation, particularly those agreements which will grant Israel the technical and financial means to independently build the Lavie fighter aircraft.”
VIEW OF SYRIA AND EGYPT
The resolution also denounced Syria’s intransigence in rejecting the May 17 Israel-Lebanon agreement and instead encouraging continuing civil war in Lebanon and undermining the government of President Amin Gemayel. “Behind Syria stands the Soviet Union which has resupplied Syrian forces and continues to encourage Syrian intransigence.”
The resolution stated that Egypt should be brought back into the peace process “it has all but abandoned.” U.S. efforts should be directed at implementing the Camp David accords, the resolution urged, adding: “All parties need to be flexible and open in terms of the negotiated process and not preclude any options that lead to peace.”
This was an apparent reference to Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and was added to the resolution as a result of lobbying by the New Jewish Agenda, a progressive Jewish organization that urged the GA to take a stand on the settlements issues.
EFFORT TO GET SETTLEMENT FREEZE RESOLUTION
The CJF tabled a stronger resolution opposing Jewish settlements in the West Bank that was proposed by Louis Smerling, a delegate to the GA from Minneapolis. His proposed resolution stated: “Israel could build on the gains it made at Camp David by refraining from actions such as the construction of settlements which lead toward the incorporation of the West Bank into Israel proper.” Many delegates favored having a resolution calling for a settlement freeze.
The CJF resolution on the Middle East criticized Egypt for freezing the process of normalization with Israel, for not returning its ambassador to Israel, for placing obstacles in the way of normal tourism and trade and for permitting “a vicious anti-Israel press campaign, and has recently supported anti-Israel resolutions in various international bodies.”
RESOLUTION ON SOVIET JEWRY
A resolution on Soviet Jewry expressed outrage at the recent sentencing of losif Begun to 12 years of prison and internal exile for the “crime” of teaching Hebrew. “The continued imprisonment of Anatoly Shcharansky, the recent trials of five other Prisoners of Conscience and the continued incarceration of an additional 12 men who have violated no laws in seeking to emigrate from the Soviet Union or live as Jews while they remain in the USSR, requires attention and action,” the resolution stated.
It also cited “a dangerous new anti-Semitic campaign” that was begun with the creation by the Soviet Union of an “Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public” and by the use of Jews as spokesmen. “This campaign has also included the false allegation of Zionist and Jewish collaboration with the Nazis during World War II and is promoting and expanding anti-Semitism.” The resolution condemned the Soviet Union for closing down emigration and for the harassment and imprisonment of aliya activists.
It congratulated the U.S. government “for its continued strength and persistence at the Madrid Review of the Helsinki Final Act.” It also commended the “heartening and significant participation” of the U.S. government, representatives from other Western democracies, religious and academic leaders, and the large number of Christians at the Third International Conference on Soviet Jewry held in Jerusalem last spring.
RESCUE OF ETHIOPIAN JEWRY
The GA also adopted a resolution of the rescue of Ethiopian Jewry urging that Israel and world Jewry “continue to exert every effort to expand the programs of rescue, relief and resettlement of this ancient community which is so seriously threatened.”
The resolution noted that “substantial progress has been made on several fronts.” This included “increasing numbers” of Ethiopian Jews being rescued and brought to Israel and personal visits of national and local Federation leadership groups to Ethiopian Jewish villages which has led to publicizing their plight and at the same time has sustained the moral of the Ethiopian Jews “isolated for so many years from the mainstream of world Jewry.”
WOMEN IN JEWISH COMMUNAL SERVICE
On women in Jewish communal service, a resolution noted that progress has been made in the last 10 years to integrate Jewish women into the working force of Jewish communal service and providing opportunity for them to rise to positions of leadership as executives. “But the pace is very slow,” the resolution stated.
In 1981, the resolution recorded, a study of women in professional Jewish communal service revealed that Jewish women comprise over half of staffs of Jewish agencies, but only two percent are executive directors and six percent assistant directors; 3.5 percent of women earn $30,000 a year or more, compared with 38 percent of the men; men and women are being trained equally well in the professional training schools. The resolution concluded:
“CJF must now recognize that special action is required to encourage its member Federations and all Jewish communal agencies to overcome these inequities and to use to the full the valuable skills of women. A special task force of the CJF Personnel Service Committee with appropriate staffing should be appointed to review the problem and to propose specific steps at the 1984 General Assembly, which can be taken to assure full access for women in executive positions. Special recognition should be given each year to those Federations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to removing the barriers.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
