Ajcongress Replies to Shamir

Theodore Mann and Henry Siegman, president and executive director, respectively, of the American Jewish Congress, expressed “regret” Wednesday over the sharp criticism voiced by Israel’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem last week of a recent AJCongress mission to Cairo and Amman, and of the visit to Moscow by Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress. The AJCongress and WJC are separate organizations.

Mann and Siegman said, in a statement released here, that they “doubt very much that this criticism serves the interests of Israel or the Jewish people.” They stressed, however, that they were not responding to Shamir’s critical remarks per se but to “an issue of principle that he raised, namely his assertion that ‘Jewish organizations ought not to undertake political work — except when Israel asks them to.”

“This position we find astounding,” their statement said, “for it assumes a complete lack of independence on the part of Jewish communities and Jewish life everywhere. We understand the need to consult with Israeli leaders on issues that affect them. In fact we consulted with them with respect to this mission …. However, there is an important distinction between consultation and instruction. As American citizens, we do not take instruction, even from respected friends in Israel.”

The statement added: “The commitment of the American Jewish Congress to the well-being and security of Israel is unqualified. We do not believe that this commitment requires Jewish organizations to compromise their independence. There will always be differences in a democratic society about the wisdom and efficacy of specific actions and policies.

“We are confident that Jewish life can cope with the stresses that are caused by such differences … We are equally convinced that Jewish life could be seriously impoverished and Jewish interests everywhere seriously damaged if its free and democratic character were to be stifled and repressed.”