Simcha Dinitz is refusing to speculate on what he will do if an advisory committee of Diaspora leaders recommends at the end of the month that he step down as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
He also is denying claims that the Jewish Agency’s fund-raising campaigns in North America have been hurt by allegations that he used agency funds for personal use.
But in a strong indication of concern from the fund-raising community, a Massachusetts federation has publicly and formally demanded that Dinitz take a leave of absence while an Israeli police investigation of his alleged financial misdeeds continues.
The Jewish Federation of the North Shore also recommended reconsidering the longstanding arrangement by which the Jewish Agency receives virtually all of the money raised for Israel by the United Jewish Appeal.
That arrangement is renewed every five years and is up for discussion next month. The prospect of changing the relationship of the federations to the Jewish Agency — a move that could end up destroying it — has been an undercurrent in the harsh arguments over various Jewish Agency issues in recent years.
But the Massachusetts resolution is believed to be the first public venting of such a change, which is the ultimate weapon in the hands of the Diaspora philanthropists.
Dinitz has refused to comment on the pending police investigation of the charges against him, which is expected to conclude this month.
But this week, in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, he said the premise of innocence must prevail until a determination of guilt is made.
“When judging behavior prior to a legal determination,” he said, “the totality of the record of an individual must be taken into account, not press allegations or other assumptions.”
“A record of a public servant who for 35 years served his people and his country without a blemish cannot be set aside when an assessment is made of his credibility and his value to the organization,” he said.
SUPPORT FROM ZIONIST LEADERS
Dinitz, who also chairs the World Zionist Organization, is receiving strong support from Zionist leaders, who have long been battling with the Diaspora fund-raising establishment for control over the Jewish Agency.
On Aug. 13, the executive of the WZO in North America issued a resolution calling on the Jewish Agency leadership not to take any action against Dinitz until all the legal and investigative proceedings are complete “and the attorney general determines a course of action.”
The Jewish Agency Board of Governors has appointed a special senior advisory committee to monitor the impact of the affair on fund-raising efforts. The committee is charged with making a recommendation by the end of this month as to a course of action on the Dinitz matter.
But according to the Jewish Agency’s bylaws, the Board of Governors does not have the power to dismiss Dinitz.
When asked whether he would abide by a board recommendation that he step down, Dinitz said he does “not comment on anything having to do with the inquiry,” that he “relies completely on the instruments of justice as instituted by the law of Israel” and that he “doesn’t answer speculative questions.”
Dinitz said he has been “flooded with hundreds of letters” of support, including “scores from the biggest contributors.” He leafed through a folder of papers and read aloud a list of illustrious names to support his claim.
FUND-RAISING EFFORTS HURT?
The embattled chairman dismissed reports that the affair puts the fund-raising endeavor into jeopardy and that some federations are threatening to cut off their contributions unless he steps down.
In fact, contributions are actually up, he said, comparing fund-raising levels during the past six months with the totals for the same six-month period last year.
“I cannot believe that a single Jew will withhold his contribution” or “injure in any way the tremendous work done by the Jewish Agency,” Dinitz said, citing its role in rescuing Jews from lands of distress and bringing them to Israel.
In Marblehead, Mass., however, Neil Cooper, executive director of the North Shore federation, said it is too early to gauge any possible impact on the campaign.
Noting the promise by Jewish Agency and UJA leadership to resolve the Dinitz issue by the end of the month, Cooper said that if they succeed in doing so, “I don’t think there will be any impact on the campaign.”
(Contributing to this report was JTA staff writer Larry Yudelson in New York.)
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.
