Theodore R. Mann, the recently elected chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, assumed office at a delicate–perhaps historically crucial–time when efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East are at a turning point and the involvement of Washington is more intensive and extensive than previously. This situation gives a unique role to the American Jewish leadership and its political influence on the Carter Administration.
Mann, a 50-year-old lawyer from Philadelphia, who succeeded Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler on July I, believes that his major role as chairman of the Presidents Conference at this juncture is to find a consensus among American Jews, to a degree that there is a consensus, and to express it in dealing with the Administrations in Washington and Jerusalem. “This consensus,” Mann explained in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “should hopefully be as close as possible to the consensus in Israel in order to create the unity that is required when and if there is a pressure from Washington.”
Mann, a native of Czechoslovakia who came to the United States with his parents in 1929, defined the principal function of his post and the organization he chairs as “to maintain unity among American and world Jewry, to refrain from engaging in the same public criticism of Israel that we (Jews) complain about when President Carter does it, and to do whatever we can to bring about direct negotiations between Israel and its neighbors.”
But Mann observed that differences of opinion between American Jewry–or at least segments of American Jewry–and the government of Israel is possible “but it seems unlikely. There is one Jewish heart beating together all over the world and the unity of the Jewish people was formed through thousands of years of history.”
VOICES OF DISSENT MUTED
Reminded that only a few months ago there were some dissenting voices among American Jews, critical of what they saw as hard-line policies by Premier Menachem Begin of Israel, Mann said: “We are not hearing them today, loud voices of dissent, screaming about inflexibility. This is due to President Sadat’s recent actions, his disdain of any sustained negotiations and his repetitious demands for Israeli concessions without modifying his demands. Sadat broke negotiations with Israel twice with no apparent reason–in January, when he suddenly recalled the Egyptian military delegation from Jerusalem, and after the summit meeting last month between Foreign Ministers (Moshe) Dayan and (Mohammed) Koamel, in Leeds (England).”
Continuing, Mann said: “There is a consensus today among American Jews that after the break-up of negotiations following the Leeds summit, it must not be expected that Israel will change its position in order to resume negotiations.” Pausing for a moment, Mann said: “It is not clear what will happen after the Camp David summit (scheduled for Sept. 5 between Begin, President Anwar Sodat of Egypt and President Carter) but I hope the consensus among American Jews will continue.”
As to the present relations between the Carter Administration and American Jewry, Mann expressed satisfaction at the “mediating role” the Carter Administration has been playing recently. “But it is possible,” he said in reply to a question, “that the Administration will act again in a way that favors one side in the negotiations. But I am very hopeful it will not happen. However, if it does, I feel confident that a widely united American Jewish community will loudly express its displeasure, as it has in the past.”
A trial attorney for the past 25 years, Mann, the 11th chairman of the Presidents Conference, said he will bring this experience to his new post, and “As any previous chairman, I bring, of course, my own personality and style.” He added that he considered it an asset that he has no attachment to any political group in Israel or Zionist organization in the United States. “But, don’t misunderstand me, I am a Zionist.”
REGULAR MEETINGS WITH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
During his one-year term, Mann said he expects to meet regularly with top Administration officials “to exchange views and to learn of the Administration thinking. They (the officials) are interested in learning what American Jews think and how are they going to react.” Mann, who visited Israel with Vice President Walter Mondale at the beginning of July, said that he has “good rapport” with Israel’s leaders, many of whom he has known for many years, and that he had “frank discussions” with them during his last visit to Jerusalem.
Mann divides his time between his law practice in Philadelphia–“I still have to earn a living,” he said, noting that the chairmanship of the Presidents Conference is a non-paying job–and his new activities in New York. Mann, who is married and is the father of two daughters and a son, has been long active in civic and Jewish affairs. He is a former president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia and is a senior vice president of the American Jewish Congress.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
