Jewish Organizations
The Israeli foreign minister spoke to the group about the importance of the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and the need to keep the safety and security of Israel a bipartisan issue
The original Durban declaration was also censured for allowing the presence of overt anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate, as well as including Palestinians as the only group named as victims of racism.
Nine of the recipients are based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The other two are national: OneTable, which helps Jews host Shabbat dinners; and PJ Library, which provides free books to Jewish families.
“We pray that no more blood is shed during the evacuation,” said the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
“The fact is, when there are new leaders, you have to renew those ties—you have to build the relationship,” said Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO for the Jewish Federations of North America.
Chairman of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin said it was “alarming” to find out about the decision, and that it was being taken without consultation with Jewish communities.
“We asked for a record level of support to improve the lives of Jewish and all Californians, and our state leaders stood with us,” said State Sen. Scott Wiener, vice president of the caucus.
They expressed optimism and faith, though also some concern over the range of coalition diversity, that the sole democracy in the Mideast will continue to make strides domestically and abroad.
“While we await to see how the current situation materializes, we have complete confidence in Israel’s democracy,” said Jewish Federations of North America president and CEO Eric Fingerhut.
Isaac Herzog, 60, was elected by a secret ballot in the Israeli Knesset on June 2 with 87 votes of the body’s 120 members. He defeated Miriam Peretz, a social activist and former Israel Prize winner.
“We also talked about more resources for security, both through the Department of Homeland Security and through the Justice Department,” said Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center.
During the two weeks Hamas was battling Israel, anti-Semitic activity rose more than 60 percent than in the previous two weeks, including attacks on individual Jews, vandalism of synagogues and harassment.
