THE NEED FOR A TOTAL RESTRUCTURE

Recently I was bemiused (in the worst way) reading page after wasted page of meaningless gibberish from the Jeweish Agency with regard to what its leadership described as a governance restructure. In reality, this was much ado about...nothing. And that is the shame because no organization is in m ore need of a total reexamination -- and, if it cannot or will not do so, JFNA, for the federations it is to represent, ought to take this on. JAFI is clearly anorganization that subscribes to the mantra: if you don't know where you are going, any path will get you there...or...won't.

The component parts of JAFI ownership just no longer work together -- and, as old as I am, I don't know if they ever did:

• The WZO -- a purely political organization, whose leadership control the purse strings as never before, have a 50% direct ownership of JAFI and for the past decade, thanks to a sorry "deal" a decade ago, now competes with the Agency. WZO also "owns" Keren Ha'Yesod, the Jewish fund-raising arm for the Jewish world beyond the USA, at least controls its membership and elects its leadership, giving WZO another 20% slice of Jewish Agency governance -- for those of you still with me, that totals 70%.
• Keren Ha'Yesod -- supposedly dedicated to raising money to fund programs of the Jewish Agency, in truth (a) it raises almost none and (b) much of what it does raise funds its staff and leadership. (While recent articles have stated that KH raises about $200,000,000 annually, it would have been a literal triumph if KH raised that over. a decade.) Most of KH funds raised flow from Canadian Jewry, who should find its representation within JFNA/UIA in a restructuring but whose leaders prefer being a "big fish" in the "small pond" that is Keren Ha'Yesod rather than being a "minnow" in the large pond that is JFNA/UIA (true one, but with a meagre $70,000,000 (and probably less) allocated by JFNA, that "pond" has become no more than a "large pond." KH has produced great leadership, appears to have no term limits for its leaders on JAFI Board and Executive.
• JFNA/UIA -- Setting aside the reality that federation Jewish Agency allocations have shrunk by over $100 million since the merger, and for many named to the Jewish Agency Board, these leaders are just passing through as opposed to the often lifelong service and dedication of their predecessors. I applaud those who provide JAFI with real leadership from North America -- among them, Michael Siegal, Beth Kieffer Leonard, Betsy Gidwitz, Sharon Janks, Bruce Sholk, Larry Silvers, Dede Feinberg, and the past Board Chairs -- and hope that their legacy will be a comprehensive examination of JAFI's roles and functions in the "new normal" and...real, substantive change.

So, what would make things better and, perhaps, provide the Jewish Agency with the resources -- financial and human -- that promises a future? In this observer's vision:

• KH should fully remove itself from WZO's ownership and restructure, aligning itself within a restructured JFNA/UIA/KH entity. Anyone who looks at KH leadership would readily conclude that David Koschitzky, Mark Leibler, Johanna Arbib Perugia, Steven Lowy and others, as examples, would readily arise as leaders of a new entity -- no more "little pond/big pond."
• The religious streams and Diaspora Zionist non-profits which have found their representation within the WZO framework would find full expression within the JFNA/UIA/KH entity.
• The JAFI's current enormous pension obligations should first be frozen and then shifted to the Government of Israel, and future employee pensions determineed by best business practices.
• The WZO would continue down its own path. If it desires to continue to compete with the Jewish Agency (rather than funding its work), it should be required to tender its Jewish Agency ownership ownership and go on its own way. If WZO is to continue to "own" any part of JAFI, its ownership/voting interests should be determined by its financial contributions to the Agency's core budget proportional to that of JFNA/UIA/KH.
• The reformed entity will elect the Board Chair and Chair of the Executive and all other elected position and its lay leadership will determine plans, focus and purposes going forward.

What are your ideas? Because "business as usual" is soon going to be no business at all.

Rwexler