Officers of the Washington chapter of the American Jewish Committee who take issue with the Israeli government’s policy of settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have scheduled a special meeting here on April 30 of the chapter’s approximately 600 members to debate their stated views.
A letter signed by the chapter’s president, Nancy Lang, and circulated to the members, said “the results of our discussion” will be forwarded to the National Board of Governors which is meeting in New York on May 13, immediately prior to the annual meeting there on May 15 when “undoubtedly the plenary body of the American Jewish Committee will come to grips with this issue.”
The letter, dated April 11, cautioned that the chapter’s meeting “is for American Jewish Committee members only” and the “draft statement” attached to it is “confidential” for “internal use only.” However, the contents of the letter and draft statement are now widely known and discussed in Washington and are known in Israel. A copy of the letter and draft was mailed by a recipient to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Washington Bureau.
NATIONAL AJCOMMITTEE NOT INVOLVED
Brant Coopersmith, director of the Washington chapter of the A JCommittee since 1964, confirmed the distribution of the letter. He told the JTA, “It is unusual for all members to discuss an issue but not unprecedented by any means. The American Jewish Committee is not a debating society but engages in a process to obtain more wisdom for ourselves.”
Coopersmith said that “no one in New York” — A JCommittee headquarters–“told us to discuss this issue.” He noted that Ms. Lang and Dr. Lawrence Goldmuntz, chapter vice president, are members of the National Board.
Bertram Gold, A JCommittee executive, vice president, told JTA: “If they (the Washington chapter) are doing it, they are doing it on their own. They have no direction from the national office. At times we solicit chapter sentiment and at times we get chapter sentiment without solicitation. We haven’t done that in this case. Foreign policy is made by the national organization, not local. At best, the chapter action will be a recommendation to the national organization.”
Asked if other A JCommittee chapters are taking a critical position on settlements, Gold replied “I don’t think so.” He said he did not see it as a “general thing.”
Top officials of the A JCommittee, including Gold and Richard Maass, president of the organization, remarked in Israel last February, when an international furor arose over the possibility of Israel establishing a Jewish presence in the West Bank Arab town of Hebron, that they would not be able to defend such a move in the U.S.
The Washington chapter officers’ action preceded by one week President Carter’s appointment of Alfred Moses of Washington, a national vice president of the A JCommittee, as his unpaid advisor on matters of Jewish community concern. Contacted by the JTA today, Moses said “I was not consulted and I did not review it before my appointment. It is solely the work of the local office.”
The “confidential draft” stated that “As a general proposition, American Jewish organizations should not meddle in what can be appropriately regarded as the internal affairs of the State of Israel. It should not, in particular, attempt to second guess Israel on what are purely issues of defense.
“On the other hand, where the government (of Israel) takes steps which can profoundly affect the future of the Jewish people, we believe it to be appropriate for American Jewish organizations to state their views of these steps. This is particularly true where policies by the government of Israel relate to international affairs.”
POINTS IN THE DRAFT STATEMENT
The first of the six points of the draft statement upholds United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 as “the foundation of Middle East peace.” The second point states:, “We do not believe that Israel should incorporate within its borders the predominantly Arab areas of Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza districts.”
The third point is: “We believe that Jews have a legal and moral right to make their homes in Judaea and Samaria, acting as individuals or as groups of individuals. We reject as utterly disingenuous the protestations of the international community which closes its eyes to atrocities committed across the globe but violently opposes the action of a handful of Jews who decide to make their homes in Judaea and Samaria. We also consider some of the statements made by our State Department on this issue legally and morally unsupportable.”
Point four states: “Our observations on the moral and legal rights of Jews to settle in Judaea and Samaria not with standing, we deem it highly unwise and contrary to the best interests of the State of Israel for the government of Israel to encourage and foster such settlements.
“We believe that the settlements policy of the present government of Israel has provided propaganda ammunition to those who wish Israel ill, has as a result alienated many persons who would otherwise tend to be more friendly to Israel, has resulted in the squandering of limited human and financial resources and, by scattering points to be defended in case of war, has been harmful to the security of the State of Israel.”
The last two points of the draft statement are that the Israel Defense Force should remain in the West Bank area until the “final border arrangement” is made, that “the indigenous Arab population should be given the maximum opportunity for self-government compatible with Israel’s security” and that Jerusalem “should remain undivided and a part of the State of Israel.”
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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.
