Shlomo Lahat, the popular former Likud mayor of Tel Aviv, is apparently in the running to succeed Simcha Dinitz as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
The Israeli daily newspaper Ma’ariv reported Tuesday that Lahat is the preferred candidate of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to succeed Dinitz, who has been under investigation for alleged financial improprieties.
Israel’s state attorney reportedly has recommended that Dinitz be indicted for fraud. But the final decision rests with the attorney general, who is expected to act on the case soon.
If indicted, Dinitz is expected to take a leave of absence, in accordance with an agreement he made with the Jewish Agency leadership. But in any case, the former ambassador and Labor Party politician is expected to leave his post by the end of 1994.
The reported reaching of a political deal over Dinitz’s successor highlights the uneasy alliance among the Israeli politicians, Diaspora philanthropists and Zionist activists who comprise the Jewish Agency, which is the principal recipient of charitable dollars raised for Israel by the United Jewish Appeal.
The Jewish Agency’s half-billion-dollar annual budget is funded largely by American philanthropists, whose donations make possible the agency’s efforts to rescue and absorb immigrants to Israel.
These philanthropists have increasingly questioned the political aspects of the agency’s governance.
RESIGNATION WOULD LOOK LIKE CONFESSION
Senior appointments at the agency, such as any replacement for Dinitz, need separate approval from both its political and philanthropic components.
Complaints over the political nature of the agency escalated when the Dinitz scandal erupted. The American philanthropists argued that Dinitz should resign immediately, saying they would demand no less of a director of an American philanthropy who showed signs of impropriety.
Dinitz, for his part, argued that he should be judged by the standards of Israeli politicians, who view resignation in the face of allegations as tantamount to confession.
Under a compromise reached by the different Jewish Agency factions, Dinitz has agreed to resign if he is convicted, or if his legal case is not concluded by Dec. 31, 1994. If he is exonerated before then, Dinitz has reserved the right to remain in office, but he has said he plans to retire.
The refusal of Dinitz to resign outright has greatly complicated the struggle for succession, since it is unclear whether an interim appointment is possible.
Within agency circles, the generally accepted interpretation of the bylaws is that the organization’s treasurer would assume the powers of the chairman if and when Dinitz goes on leave.
While the current treasurer, Hanan Ben-Yehuda, is said to want the job of acting chairman, he is a member of the opposition Likud party. Dinitz represents the ruling Labor Party.
Lahat, too, is a Likudnik. But he has veered well to the left of his party’s political line on issues such as the peace process, and he is said to be a close friend of Rabin’s.
His appointment would likely infuriate the candidates within the Labor Party, who are said to include former Knesset Speaker Shlomo Hillel, as well as two current heads of Jewish Agency’s departments, Uri Gordon and Yehiel Leket.
But it could well meet with the approval of Treasurer Ben-Yehuda, who for a decade worked under Lahat as head of the Tel Aviv Foundation.
Any successor could not be formally appointed until next June. If Dinitz takes a leave, an interim appointment is expected.
The Ma’ariv article was confirmed by an Israeli Cabinet source, but Jewish Agency officials refused to comment on it.
One agency official said it was premature to discuss any candidacy and said agency bylaws call for an elaborate advise and consent process with constituency groups before a chief executive is approved.
(Contributing to this report was JTA staff writer Larry Yudelson in New York.)
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