Larry's Issue of the Week: Convergence, Arabs, and Other Things

NIF Blog
May 2, 2006
By LARRY GARBER

For those whose frame of reference is the US two-party system, the post-election negotiations in Israel appear both complicated and unseemly. Yet, the type of bargaining that Israel experienced in the aftermath of the March 28 elections is typical of democracies that use a proportional representation system. Thus, unlike the US, where the coalitions, in effect, are formed pre-election based on party primaries or other forms of assessing the relative strength of factions within a party, in Israel the electoral preferences of the voters determine the bargaining positions of the different parties.

Later this week, five weeks after the Knesset elections, Ehud Olmert will announce the formation of a new government. The core of this government will include: Kadima, a new centrist party formed two months before Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke; Labor, whose party leader Amir Peretz will assume leadership of the Defense Ministry; and the Pensioners, which surprised pundits and pollsters by winning seven seats in the election. While other parties will join the coalition and obtain various ministries, the three core parties will seek to promote two key issues: the Olmert "convergence" plan – i.e., calling for the establishment of permanent borders for Israel based on the route of the separation barrier and the evacuation of settlers who live beyond the barrier, and changes in socio-economic policies to provide for marginalized and vulnerable groups, including new immigrants, pensioners, minorities and the poor.

Last week, I participated in an important meeting in New York. More than 170 representatives of American Jewish organizations - federations, foundations, advocacy groups and service delivery groups - joined to discuss the challenges facing Israel's Arab minority, and why this issue is a priority for those who care about Israel's future. The meeting was organized by the newly-formed Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab issues, which is led by a seven-member steering committee that includes myself, Steve Schwager (Joint Distribution Committee), Malcolm Hoenlein (Conference of Presidents), Jeff Solomon (Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies), Harriet Mouchly Weiss (NY Federation), Brian Lurie (Fromm Foundation) and Abe Foxman (Anti-Defamation League).

For NIF, the formation of a task force to focus on an issue that has long been part of our mandate is a welcome development within the American Jewish community. At the same time, we cannot revel in this success when the real objective is to address the serious inequities and de facto inequalities that confront Israel's Arab minority. To this end, NIF will continue to support organizations that advocate for legal and legislative changes, that promote economic and educational opportunities, and that seek to change racist attitudes and ingrained prejudices among Israel's population.

Lastly, I want to take note of the positive response that NIF received to a series of banner ads that NIF posted on the Haaretz web site last week. The ads focused attention on the genocide in Darfur and the plight of 80 refugees from Sudan who are today seeking asylum in Israel. More than1,000 Israelis responded to our call to sign a petition requesting the Israeli government to grant asylum to the refugees during the three days that the ads ran.