Events | Past Events | UJC/Federation General Assembly in Los Angeles, CA

UJC/Federation General Assembly – November 12 – 15, 2006

For the first time in UJC General Assembly history, Israeli Arab issues held four places on the agenda. Below is a snapshot of the briefings.

At the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues meeting, we heard about the challenges and opportunities that Israeli Jewish-Arab relations pose for Israel today and discussed the role of North American Jewry. This was an unusual, substantive and well-attended meeting devoid of politics that traditionally cloud the issues. Representatives from the Israeli government, Jewish Agency, JDC and North America all confirmed that we are moving in the right direction and must continue to educate/raise awareness in North America and simultaneously work with and support organizations in Israel to strengthen education, social service, economic development and shared citizenship activities.

UJC also passed a resolution on Israeli Arabs without objection at the UJC Board of Trustees Annual Meeting and Delegate Assembly. The UJC resolution urges the Jewish federations of North America:
  • To join with the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and other relevant overseas partners and agencies to "foster the development of the country for the benefit of all of its inhabitants."
  • To consider using missions to Israel and other opportunities to engage with Israeli Arabs,
  • To educate and sensitize the Jewish community regarding this issue, as each Federation deems appropriate.
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Briefings

1. The Writing on the Wall: The Impact of the Hezbollah War on Jewish-Arab Relations in Israel
  • Nadia Chilo, Member of Knesset
  • MK Gideon Sa’ar, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset
  • Elie Rekhess, Director, Konrad Adenauer Foundation Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation, Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University

2. The Federation System and Israeli Arabs
  • Harriet Mouchly-Weiss, Task Force Steering Committee member, UJC Roundtable on Israeli Arabs, Chair, Commission on the Jewish People, UJA-Federation of New York
  • Kher Albaz, Director, Department of Social Services, Segev Shalom Municipality
  • Rabbi Naftali Rothenberg, PhD, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
  • Joelle Steefel, Chair, Leadership Development Committee, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Task Force member

3. Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues meeting
  • Yuli Tamir, Israel's Minister of Education
  • Brian Lurie, Task Force Co-Chair
  • Steve Schwager, Executive Vice President of JDC and Task Force Co-Chair
  • Zeev Bielski,Chairman of Executive, the Jewish Agency of Israel and the World Zionist Organization


Click here to download the UJC Israeli Arab Resolution