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JNS: Growing organization helps Israeli Americans find their voice

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Posted on October 22, 2014 by Jacob Kamaras / JNS.org and filed under Israel, U.S., Features.

By Jacob Kamaras/JNS.org

The so-called “alphabet soup” of American Jewish organizations covers seemingly every communal concern and interest group. Yet despite their direct connection with the Jewish homeland and firsthand knowledge of issues prioritized by American Jews, Israelis living in the United States have historically been both neglected and unorganized. 

But the fast-growing Israeli-American Council (IAC), which was founded in Los Angeles in 2007 and started expanding nationally in 2013, is working to change that. This year, IAC’s own programming has reached more than 100,000 of the estimated 500,000-800,000 Israeli Americans, and another 50,000 Israeli Americans have participated in programs sponsored by IAC.

IAC’s stated mission is “to build an active and giving Israeli-American community throughout the United States in order to strengthen the State of Israel, our next generation, and to provide a bridge to the Jewish-American community.” Its growth plan since last year has been twofold. First, to open regional offices in areas with large Israeli American populations—recently launched offices include Boston, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Las Vegas, on top of the initial Los Angeles office. Second, in areas not served by its regional offices, IAC sponsors programming in places like Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Dallas. 

From Nov. 7-9, IAC will hold its inaugural national conference, “The Israeli-American Community: A Strategic Asset for Our Future,” in Washington, DC.

“[IAC is] a welcome and important development,” Brandeis University professor Dr. Jonathan Sarna, a leading expert on American Jewish history, told JNS.org. “We’ve seen a similar effort on the part of Jews from the former Soviet Union, where similarly there have been organizations like the Genesis Philanthropy Group that seek to work with Russian-speaking Jews to preserve culture and to really allow them to preserve their identity going forward.”

“For a long time, Israelis in the United States did not similarly organize—different from [the strategy of] all other Jewish immigrant groups in the United States—and the reason was that whereas the other immigrants had left countries where Jews were persecuted and the Jews had no intention of returning to those countries, Israelis often argued that they were here only for a short time, that they hoped to return, and they did not organize in this way,” Sarna explained.

So what has changed?

Click photo to download. Caption: The Idan Raichel Project performs at the Israeli-American Council’s Celebrate Israel Festival in Los Angeles on May 18, 2014. Credit: Abraham Joseph Pal.

“With Israel under attack, from BDS (the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement) and the like, it’s easy to understand why those American Jews who have roots in Israel and know it best feel that they want to organize, in part in order to defend it, in part in order to promote their own identity as Israeli Americans,” said Sarna.

Adam Milstein, one of IAC’s founders and president of The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, agrees.

“I think the Israeli people are best equipped to communicate the truth about Israel, because they are not naive like many in the American Jewish community,” Milstein told JNS.org. “They know the Israeli people, they know that we have very high standards of human rights and freedom, they know the propaganda war of Hamas and Iran.”

IAC-affiliated programming connects with Israeli Americans at all phases of the lifecycle. Sifriyat Pijama B’America—the mirror image of Jewish philanthropist Harold Grinspoon’s PJ Library—sends free Hebrew-language books on a monthly basis to Hebrew-literate families across the U.S. Sifriyat Pijama will reach 15,000 families this year, according to Milstein, who explained that the goal is ensuring that the Hebrew language is spoken at home, as well as partnering with schools, JCCs, and synagogues in order to introduce Israelis to American Jewish life.

At the college level, IAC’s Mishelanu (meaning “of ours”) program serves Israeli students at 33 schools who are not fully comfortable with the programming of other campus groups. IAC also supports the Tzofim (Israel Scouts) youth movement, which offers programs for ages 10-18. For all ages, IAC runs the “Celebrate Israel Festival” to mark Israeli Independence Day in all of its regions. The 2014 Celebrate Israel Festival in Los Angeles drew 15,000 attendees.

Milstein explained that while American Jewish institutions typically seek membership fees, Israelis are accustomed to receiving Jewish communal services such as synagogue membership and schooling for free. When Israelis didn’t want to pay for those services in the U.S., Jewish organizations typically “disengaged” from Israelis unless they were donors, said Milstein.

“We (IAC) take a different approach,” Milstein said. “We’re investing in our community. We provide free services to every group, whether it’s educational or cultural or Jewish outreach. Everything we do is subsidized or free, and we’re engaging [Israelis] with no strings attached.”

Personal journeys 

For Milstein and others involved with IAC, the endeavor is highly personal. 

Milstein came to America in 1981 with his wife and two daughters, earned a Master of Business Administration, and worked in commercial real estate. He didn’t started his life in the U.S. attending synagogue but said he had a “wake-up call” when his daughters started to date non-Jews. When asked why his daughters should make a point to date fellow Jews, Milstein found himself without a good answer. 

“I knew that unless I made a change for myself and tried to understand those issues, I wouldn’t be able to keep [my daughters] Jewish,” he said. 

Milstein connected with the Aish HaTorah outreach organization and started becoming more involved with Jewish life. His daughters both married Jews. Aish would introduce him to Israel advocacy organizations such as AIPAC, laying the groundwork for his eventual philanthropy and involvement with IAC’s founding.

“I felt that [IAC] was going to be a channel for me to really tell my story and convince other people to send their kids to Jewish education, and to be more philanthropic, and to help Jewish identity and the state of Israel,” he said.

Like Milstein, Rani Ben-David, the IAC’s Florida chairman, cited his children as motivation for his involvement with the organization.

“[My two children] are Americans, they were born here, and their kids are definitely going to be American, so [this work is] just to keep that Israeli inside them, to have them keep loving Israel,” he told JNS.org. “If you look at the Jewish federations, and the American Jews, you see that they have a lot of love for Israel, and I think you want to keep that also with the Israeli kids.”

Yehudit Feinstein-Mentesh, IAC’s regional director in New York, recalled that when she became a mother five years ago, she “suddenly felt a sense of loss and a sense of ‘What am I doing here?’”

At Brooklyn-based Congregation Beth Elohim, Feinstein-Mentesh’s employer at the time, Rabbi Andy Bachman encouraged her to make the synagogue a meeting place for Israelis. “I started a Google group and started to volunteer and run different events, and so many Israelis started to come,” said Feinstein-Mentesh, who founded an organization called Israelis in Brooklyn.

While Israelis in Brooklyn “built an amazing, thriving, strong community” of Israeli Americans, she said, the group still found itself without the support system it desired.

“I was creative enough to create programs and find funding, but I never had the ability to find these people in the Israeli community who would be able to support us, and I always had to go to the Jewish American foundations for support,” Feinstein-Mentesh told JNS.org.

When she applied for an IAC grant to support Israelis in Brooklyn, Feinstein-Mentesh recalled that approaching an Israeli non-profit for the first time was like “talking with your family… I really felt that they were taking care of me.”

Instead of the grant, she got her job with IAC.

“[My path to IAC] started from a very personal need and a very personal story, that I realized that I’m not alone, that there are thousands of people like me that are craving different things,” said Feinstein-Mentesh.

Building bridges

While advancing its own goals, IAC is placing a priority on partnering with the American Jewish organizations that preceded its existence. In Boston, the IAC-supported Mitchabrim initiative has hosted discussion groups to foster connections between organizations. One session focused on how to better welcome an Israeli newcomer to the community.

IAC’s Boston office also works closely with Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the local Jewish federation. During this summer’s Gaza war, Israelis understood “that we have to do something, to have an organized rally, and that it meant going outside on the street” rather than just holding indoor rallies, said Na’ama Ore, IAC’s Boston regional director.

After drawing 1,200 people at an initial pro-Israel rally during the war, a second rally that IAC promoted in partnership with the Jewish federation involved about 115 organizations and attracted 3,500 attendees.

“Besides building the Israeli community here, we definitely understand the need to merge and to see where we can collaborate with the federation,”Ore told JNS.org.

IAC’s New York and Florida leaders expressed similar sentiments.

“We are not trying to exchange other organizations [for ourselves],” Feinstein-Mentesh said.

“I see it as a very important thing to build that one community, that we’re all together,” said Ben-David. 

Ex-pats earn respect

While the IAC works to better integrate Israelis into American Jewish life, its existence also comes at a time when Israeli ex-pats are increasingly accepted by their countrymen back home.

“It was certainly true in the early decades of the state, when there was a great desire to enhance the [Israeli] population and to promote aliyah, that those who left Israel were portrayed negatively,” said Brandeis’s Sarna. “Today, there are so many Israelis who have lived for part of their lives in America, and with the rise of globalization so that an Israeli in America can constantly be in touch with developments back in Israel through email, through Skype… the sense that one who leaves Israeli is abandoning Israel I think is no longer proper, and I think Israel itself understands that it is far better to ally with Israelis in the United States than to criticize them.”

Click photo to download. Caption: Jewish philanthropist and Zionist activist Sheldon Adelson (pictured) will speak at the Israeli-American Council’s inaugural national conference in Washington, DC. Credit: Denise Truscello.

Similarly, Ore said that while for many years leaving Israel was “kind of betraying the country,” the Israeli government now recognizes “that Israeli Americans can be an asset for the country if we are organized as communities.”

Additional IAC regional offices that are in the works include Chicago, Philadelphia, and possibly Houston and Phoenix, according to Milstein. IAC is also planning the first Taglit-Birthright Israel trip for Hebrew speakers, which will take place in December. For November’s inaugural national conference in Washington, IAC’s program features major speakers such as Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, Jewish philanthropists and Zionist activists Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, and Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor.

“We’re succeeding, and [U.S. Jews are] taking note that we’re a power in the Jewish community in America,” Milstein said.

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Haaretz: Proud to be Israeli-Americans – in the U.S.

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Attitudes toward Israeli expats have changed in recent years. Nobody in Israel calls them ‘traitors’ any more, while Americans now view them as entrepreneurs rather than blue-collar migrant workers.

By  | Oct. 19, 2014 | 2:00 AM |  2

 

 
An IAC event. Six branches have been established across the U.S. within a year. Photo by Courtesy IAC

 

The Facebook page “Olim Le-Berlin” (calling on people to migrate to Berlin) managed to stir things up in Israel last week, but the truth is that emigration to Berlin from Israel is still a marginal phenomenon. According to World Bank figures, the number of Israelis currently living in the United States is larger than that in all European countries combined.

Apparently without Facebook pages and protest movements, a proud Israeli community is establishing itself in the U.S. without attempting to assimilate into American society. And it is actually establishing leadership institutions with the backing of the Israeli government.

The nature of the Israeli-American expatriate has been changing over the past few years. Whereas in past years, newcomers tended to keep a low profile with regards to their country of origin as they tried to blend in and assimilate into American society, today more Israelis are quite comfortable with their Israeli origin and image. They are proud of it and try to preserve it, although they feel quite good about their American lives.

One should be wary of generalizations – not every Israeli living in the U.S. has an Israeli flag stuck on his face. Nevertheless, Israelis fitting this pattern can increasingly be seen in recent years.

Israelis living in the U.S. always knew how to find one another and maintain social contact. This was less prominent among academics and white-collar workers, who were more easily absorbed into American society. Anyone for whom Israeli culture was important chose to live in areas where other Israelis tended to live, such as Brooklyn and Queens, ate at Israeli (Mizrahi-style) restaurants, purchased Israeli food products (which are often cheaper in the U.S.) and often participated in public singing of Israeli songs. However, the truth is that the majority wished to blur their origins in their new homeland. Many did not have the inclination, time or patience to seek out other Israelis or Israeli culture.

Over the last decade a new wave of Israelis began arriving in the U.S. These included professionals, high-tech people, lawyers, people dealing in finance and real estate, as well as those who barely finished high school. In contrast to earlier migrants, they are not keeping a low profile at all. They don’t strive to become American. They see themselves as Israelis who live in the U.S. One of the main reasons for this conceptual change is the transfer of hundreds of high-tech Israeli companies, both large and small, to the U.S.

What one book can do

According to figures released by the World Bank and the Central Bureau of Statistics, there are some 150,000 Israelis living in the U.S. However other (conservative) estimates consider the number to be at least 200,000, while others claim that at least half a million Israelis live in the U.S., mainly in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. For years, Israelis coming to the U.S. wanted to blend in, confident that they would not be returning to Israel. Their Israeli image was not something they were proud of, to say the least.

Among American Jews there is great sympathy toward Israel, with a Pew Research Center survey from last year showing that 70% feel some degree of affiliation or sympathy. However, for many years the attitude toward Israelis living in the U.S. was not particularly positive. Israelis were occasionally associated with crime or with manual labor such as house movers or carpet cleaners. Israeli government policies also aroused discomfort among some members of Jewish communities, leading to reserved attitudes toward Israelis in the U.S.

If that were not enough, many Israelis tried to blur their origins in order to wipe out the negative stigma associated with emigrating from Israel. Their labeling as “cowardly dropouts” by former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had a significant impact.

All this has changed in recent years. The 2009 book “Start-Up Nation” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, which depicted Israel as a country replete with start-up ventures, had a great influence on altering perceptions. The buzz surrounding the book served as a source of pride. The new Israelis are no longer stereotyped as taxi drivers and schleppers (an image which was not accurate to begin with). They are now stereotyped (again inaccurately) as entrepreneurs.

Ethan Bronner, deputy national editor of the New York Times who in the past was the paper’s correspondent in Israel, knows Israel and Israelis in New York very well (he’s married to one). “There are Israelis across this city in key positions in real estate, finance, science, mobile software, art and architecture,” he says. “I have met Israeli graduate students here who say that companies like Google and Facebook are recruiting them. My sense is that Israeli professionals who come here are even tougher and more determined to succeed than those who stay in Israel, who themselves are pretty tough and determined to succeed. In that sense, the Israeli diaspora in America punches way above its weight and has made its presence felt quite strongly.”

Ariel Halevi, the co-founder and CEO of Choozer, a company which helps corporations quickly set up attractive job descriptions, says that there is “something wonderful about the community of Israeli entrepreneurs that has developed in New York. These are Israelis of a different type. They exhibit a wonderful amalgamation of successful and likable Israeli qualities such as vision, initiative, boldness and a sense of community with successful American virtues such as organizational skills, attention to detail, order and discipline and, of course, social refinement. It’s a wonderful blend of two cultures, taking the best of both worlds.”

Guy Franklin, an accountant at Ernst and Young, made a name for himself within the Israeli community in New York when he drew up a map of Israeli high-tech companies in the city. He overlaid 200 companies, some still in their early stages, across the map of Manhattan, highlighting how extensive the transfer of Israeli companies to New York really is. Franklin says that Israeli entrepreneurs get support from American startups and investors and feel comfortable expressing their Israeli origins. They are proud of them, seeking other Israelis and trying to maintain their Israeli character. They don’t consider themselves to be permanent expatriates and therefore don’t attempt to assimilate into American society, in contrast to the Israelis who left in the 1970s.

A change in the government’s attitude

One prominent indication of the Israeli community’s self-perception is the forming of organizations not seen in the past. Last year the Israeli-American Council (IAC), an umbrella organization for Israelis in the U.S., was formed in Los Angeles and is now gathering momentum. A “local council” of Israelis was formed in New York, trying to link Israelis living in the city and its vicinity.

Eran Hyman, the elected head of the council, says that “Israelis living in the U.S. are now more secure about their Israeli identity and feel more comfortable presenting themselves as Israelis and going out together.”

The council has an eight-member cabinet and an 80-member board. Hyman says that the initiative for establishing the council came from Israeli government institutions such as the Jewish Agency and the Zionist Federation. The Jewish Agency contributed $30,000 for setting up the council, and the Zionist Federation of New York added another $75,000.

The support of the UJA – Federation of New York, which encompasses New York’s Jews and their numerous organizations, is no trivial matter. For years the Jewish community took care to distance itself from Israelis in the city. Now it views them as an asset. The Jewish Federation has concluded that Israelis in the U.S. can serve as ground-breakers with regard to Jewish identity. Their secular cultural framework can serve as a model for emulation by New York’s Jews.

At the Stephen Wise Free (Reform) Synagogue, Israeli-American Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is leading a campaign trying to attract Israelis to his synagogue. He raised a donation of $300,000 for this purpose and his synagogue holds activities designed to attract them. Among the federation’s activities are Hebrew classes and a job fair to assist Israelis in finding work.

Attitudes toward Israelis living in the U.S. have changed not only in America but in Israel as well. The Israeli government, the Jewish Agency and several Knesset members have recognized the fact that Israel is a normal country with a diaspora, as many other countries have. The government and Jewish Agency have now changed course after shunning expatriates for many years. Following behind-the-scenes arguments in government offices, there is now a willingness to invest resources in this community. They are now viewed as people who can bring business to Israel and strengthen Israel’s standing in the U.S. and the world, as well as donating money and potentially returning to Israel.

The increased attention to this community also stems from the ongoing failure to attract immigrants from the U.S. There are currently 2,000-3,000 immigrants a year, many of whom eventually return to the U.S. Reports of widespread assimilation among many children of Israeli expatriates also set off alarm bells in Israel. The Israeli government is now interested in strengthening Israeli communities in the U.S., trying to encourage children to return and enlist in the Israel Defense Forces.

The change in Israel has not just been institutional. Public attitudes have become more forgiving. Even people who aren’t happy with the phenomenon are more accepting.

Things started to change in the Los Angeles community earlier than in New York. Israeli businessmen like Shawn Evenhaim, Adam Milstein and Danny Alpert established an Israeli community organization eight years ago. They later expanded it and set up the IAC, which covers the entire U.S. The purpose was to unite the community and serve as its representative when dealing with Israel. The organization received $10 million from Sheldon Adelson and another donation from Haim Saban, who maintains a prominent Israeli profile. These donations made IAC, of which Evenhaim is now the chairman, a wealthy organization.

From many perspectives IAC is a success. According to its CEO Sagi Balasha, “It is now a national organization with six branches, supporting 40 Israeli-American organizations, with 150,000 members from coast to coast.”

Each branch receives $300,000 a year. During Operation Protective Edge the organization called on Israeli Americans to join demonstrations held in Los Angeles, Miami and Boston. Another big event expressing identification with Israel was held at a New York community center.

The IAC’s first national conference will be held in Washington on November 7. The “Israeli side” will be represented by Communications Minister Gilad Erdan and opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog. Israel’s ambassadors to the UN and the U.S., Ron Prosor and Ron Dermer, will also attend. The “American side” will be represented by Haim Saban, Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam. Mitt Romney and Joe Lieberman will be the keynote speakers. Also speaking will be Israeli entrepreneur and investor Yossi Vardi, a regular traveler between Israel and the U.S.

The IAC views this as a historic conference. There is some truth in this. There has never been an organization of Israeli expatriates with such extensive activity, receiving Israeli governmental backing. The participation of official Israeli representatives at such an event clearly expresses the new winds blowing from Jerusalem. It’s a far cry from the “cowardly dropouts.”

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A Black South African on Israel and Apartheid – sponsored by the MIlstein Family Foundation

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Is Israel an “apartheid state,” as its enemies claim? Who better to answer that charge than a Black South African who lived through apartheid? Kenneth Meshoe, a member of the South African parliament, fits that bill. He examines the evidence against Israel and draws a compelling conclusion.

The content was produced by Prager University and was sponsored by the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

 

 

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New Video for Stand By Me – Please Watch

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Stand By Me is a nonprofit organization that provides emotional and physical support to local Israeli-Jewish American cancer patients and their families.

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‘BDS: The Attempt to Strangle Israel’, Featuring Alan Dershowitz – Sponsored by the Milstein Family Foundation

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The latest strategy employed by those who wish to strangle Israel is called BDS. It may sound harmless, but do not be fooled. It stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and not only is it poisonous for Israel, but for the world as well. Israel is one of the freest countries on earth, where everyone–including Arabs–benefit from that freedom. If Israel continues to be singled out by BDS and suffocated economically, the damage would ripple throughout the globe. In five minutes, learn about BDS and why it must be stopped.

The content was produced by Prager University and was sponsored by the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

 

 

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The Blaze: ‘The Most Important Video About Israel Ever Made’ was sponsored by Adam and Gila Milstein

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Some Are Calling This the ‘Most Important Video About Israel Ever Made’ — and It’s Taking the Internet by Storm

 

It’s been dubbed the “most important video about Israel ever made” — and it’s being widely circulated on the Internet amid the recent Gaza conflict. Featuring nationally syndicated radio talk show host Dennis Prager, who is known for his strong conservative views, the pro-Israel YouTube video aims to explain the Middle East conflict in under six minutes. “The Middle East conflict is framed as one of the most complex problems in the world,” the video claims. “But, in reality, it’s very simple.” “It may be the hardest to solve, but it is the easiest to explain,” Prager says. “In a nutshell, it’s this: one side wants the other side dead.” According to Prager, the “simple” problem is difficult to solve because most Palestinians and Arabs “do not recognize the right of the Jewish state of Israel to exist.” To support his thesis, Prager briefly overviews several decades of history, contending Israel has always sought peace with its neighbors. The conservative talk show host concludes the video leaving viewers with one final thought. “If tomorrow, Israel laid down its arms and announced, ‘We will fight no more,’ what would happen? And if the Arab countries around Israel laid down their arms and announced, ‘We will fight no more,’ what would happen?” Prager asks. “In the first case, there would be an immediate destruction of the state of Israel and mass murder of its Jewish population. In the second case, there would be peace the next day.” The video, officially titled “The Middle East Problem,” has amassed more than 3 million views since it was uploaded in late April. According to YouTube statistics, most of the views have poured in over the past couple weeks. Yet, not everyone is buying Prager’s argument. An op-ed published in Israel’s left-leaning newspaper Haaretz said the video “got it all wrong.” “One 5-minute video that has been circulating on Facebook purports to explain the overall Arab-Israeli conflict simply and concretely. Those who’ve posted it praise its concrete and ‘unemotional’ tone. It is indeed simple and unsensational. The problem is, the explanation put forth is anything but supported by the evidence,” asserted the op-ed, authored by Mira Sucharov. Sucharov, an associate professor of political science at Canada’s Carleton University, argues that the “they hate us” theory “serves to trivialize the actual concerns and claims of the other side.” Further, she added that Prager’s video “ignores the mutual letters of recognition exchanged between Israel and the PLO in 1993.” “It is easy to say that the other’s acts of protest — sometimes violent, other times in the form of boycott and divestment or general civil disobedience — stem from hatred,” Sucharov wrote. “It is much harder to sit and listen to the fears of the other and to examine one’s own actions to see how they shape those perceptions.” A request for comment on the video was not immediately returned Monday evening by the Palestinian American Council or Americans United for Palestinian Human rights.

The content was produced by Prager University and was sponsored by the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

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LA Times: UC appoints Jewish student regent amid controversy

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By LARRY GORDON For the second time in two years, passions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts have entered an unlikely forum: the UC regents' selection of student representatives on the university governing board The regents voted Wednesday for a Jewish undergraduate from UCLA to join a Muslim from UC Berkeley as the student voices on the panel. The two, who both faced controversy over their selections, promised to cooperate on student-related causes, although they have taken opposing positions on whether UC should divest its holdings in companies that do business with the Israeli military. The UC regents confirmed Abraham "Avi" Oved as the new student representative, despite protests from a pro-Palestinian group and others that he may have a conflict of interest. Critics say his campus political campaigns were supported, at least indirectly, by a donor who backs Israeli causes. Oved served as internal vice president of the UCLA campus undergraduate student government and is active at the UCLA Jewish Student Union and the Hillel organization. Last year the board selected Sadia Saifuddin, a UC Berkeley student government leader, who is now the voting student regent through the upcoming school year. Some Jewish organizations opposed her selection because Saifuddin, the first Muslim student regent, supported the campaign for UC divestment. Oved opposed such divestment and the regents are considered unlikely to approve such a controversial financial move. Regent George Kieffer, who heads the committee on student regent selection, said there were parallels in the two consecutive years of controversy. "That's what happens at a university with differences of opinion," Kieffer said after Wednesday's vote. But he said he was pleased that Saifuddin, who cast the only vote against Oved's confirmation, nevertheless said the two will work together. The group Students for Justice in Palestine contended that Oved had unseemly connections to Adam Milstein, a businessman who supports Israeli causes and has expressed opinions the regents consider offensive to Muslims. Milstein donated money to the UCLA Hillel, according to Oved. The Hillel group gave financial support to the campus political slate that included Oved, he said. Oved, whose parents emigrated from Israel, has denied directly taking any of Milstein's money for his political races and has said opposition to his regent nomination arose because of his anti-divestment stance. Oved and his supporters note that UCLA has no rules banning donations to student campaigns. Milstein said in a statement Wednesday he was pleased by the regents' vote but emphasized that neither he nor his family foundation donated to Oved. The allegations about Oved's funding were part of an "anti-Semitic smear campaign" meant to intimidate pro-Israel students, he said. Milstein denied that he was anti-Muslim: "The one thing I actually am is pro-Israel…. That, by default, does not make me anything else." The UC systemwide student association recently sought to delay the confirmation vote until the next regents meeting in September so the situation could be more fully investigated. Several student leaders, speaking at the meeting here Wednesday, said the board showed disrespect to student opinion by moving ahead. Demonstrators silently stood in protest after the vote, holding signs that read "Not My Student Regent." The regents rejected the call for postponement, saying Oved had done nothing wrong. Kieffer noted the UC student association had done much of the thorough screening that led to Oved's nomination. He said it would be "meaningless" to delay since UCLA's student election code does not require disclosure of campaign donors. Saifuddin said she could not support Oved's nomination when so many students wanted further investigation. "It is greatly troubling that students' concerns about their representative are being dismissed," she said. Yet, Saifuddin promised to guide Oved "through the myriad moral and political factors" student regents face. Oved, an economics major who grew up in Encino, said Middle East issues are not relevant to the most important issues facing UC. He said he wants to work on such efforts as boosting financial aid, increasing classes, helping victims of sexual assault and improving mental health services. And he said he would "reach out to communities that may have felt uncomfortable" with his nomination. Oved quoted the late feminist poet Audre Lorde in his statement that people should honor their differences. "This sentiment of recognizing, accepting and celebrating differences is one I wish to carry throughout my term as student regent," Oved said. He will serve one year as the student regent designate, able to offer opinions but barred from voting on UC issues until he starts his term as a full regent in the 2015-16 school year. In other business, the regents heard from members of a task force recently formed by UC President Janet Napolitano to develop better ways of preventing and investigating sexual assault allegations on UC campuses. The group's chair, Sheryl Vacca, a UC senior vice president and chief compliance and audit officer, said a wide range of recommendations would be presented at the regents' September meeting with a goal of transforming UC into "a national leader." [email protected] Twitter: @larrygordonlat Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times

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Jewish Journal: Birthright to bring Israeli-American kids to their homeland

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As the sun dipped below the horizon on the evening of May 6, nearly 100 local supporters of Birthright Israel gathered under a massive tent in the backyard of the Encino estate of philanthropists Adam and Gila Milstein.

Two hours later, Adam Milstein had announced a new Birthright program for Israeli-Americans and helped raise $6.5 million for Birthright — about $3.5 million for the new program — with the promise of much more. 

That’s thanks in large part to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and media mogul Haim Saban, who, together, contributed about $3.5 million. Other large contributions were made by various attendees and board members of the Israeli American Council (IAC), a Los Angeles-based group that seeks to strengthen the Israeli-American community.

At the dinner, Adelson, 80, pledged to match up to $50 million in donations made this year to Birthright and spoke broadly about his historical connection to Israel and his commitment to ensuring that any Jew who wants to go there won’t face the same fate as his father, who was too ill to go by the time Adelson and his siblings could afford to send him.

“I don’t want one Jewish person not to be able to go to Israel because they are too old and too sick,” he said.

Speaking for more than 30 minutes and passionately explaining his fear that American Jewry is vanishing, Adelson — whose support from last year is helping the IAC expand nationwide — said that Birthright is the single best guarantor of keeping young Jews interested in being Jewish. Coming seven months after a Pew Research Center survey reported an alarming decline in involvement among young Jews, Adelson’s admonition sounded particularly urgent.

At one point, he even looked at Jay Sanderson, president and CEO of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, and predicted that, absent programs such as Birthright, Jewish communal organizations will be the first to disappear.

“Jay won’t need a job — there won’t be a Federation,” Adelson warned. “You better take that seriously. And then it will be AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and then it will be the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], the day schools, the Jewish camps. There won’t be any need because there won’t be any Jews left.”

Today, Adelson — whose net worth is just under $40 billion, according to Forbes — is heavily invested in Jewish life in America. He told the Journal after his speech that he has given more than $240 million to Birthright since the beginning of his involvement seven years ago, when his son’s inability to reach the top of Birthright’s waitlist alerted Adelson to the fact that, because of  lack of funds, thousands of young American Jews weren’t making it to Israel. He asked Birthright’s leadership how much it would cost to clear the waitlist. Their answer was $30 million. Adelson cleared it.

His reach has extended to Jewish life in Israel in recent years with his purchase of several news outlets, including the country’s largest newspaper, Israel Hayom, and a paper of the Zionist-religious right, Makor Rishon. The new Birthright program announced by Milstein is the IAC Leadership Taglit Birthright Trip. It will be jointly run by Birthright and the IAC with the goal of reversing what he said is a trend of assimilation in the Israeli-American community. “[This is] a community that’s not connected to Jewish organizations or Jewish life,” Milstein said. “If we were not there to work with this community, there is a real probability that they will assimilate quickly. They don’t go to synagogues. They don’t get a Jewish education.” 

Milstein estimates that about 1 million Israeli-Americans live in the United States. He said that Jews between 18 and 26 who have at least one Israeli parent and have spent most of their lives in America will be eligible. “When an Israeli-American comes on Birthright, the impact is probably five times more than the impact on Jewish-Americans,” Milstein said. “The reason is simple — Israeli-Americans are connected to Israel already.” 

In line with Birthright’s recently loosened eligibility requirements, Israeli-Americans who previously toured the land on an organized trip before the age of 18 will not be disqualified. Even so, Milstein predicts that many of the participants will not have intimate knowledge of the land. “They don’t know the land of Israel,” he said. “They know the house of their grandma; they know the beach in Netanya.” 

The new program, which will begin marketing this summer, hopes to send the first group of Israeli-Americans to Israel in the winter. A key component of the trip, Milstein said, will be regular follow-up with the participants after their return. He added that American Jews who prefer to go on a Birthright trip with Israeli-Americans will be able to apply to the program as well. 

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Jewocity: 5,000 spots open for Sifriyat Pijama B’America, the IAC free Hebrew-language children’s book program

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Los Angeles, CA, February 20, 2014 – The Israel-American Council (IAC) has opened Sifriyat Pijama B’America’s (SP-BA) registration for the 2014-2015 school year. There are now 5,000 spots available for families to join the highly popular free Hebrew-language children’s book program on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to popular demand, IAC has made a total of 15,000 registrants possible this year with additional funding. SP-BA, a partnership of the IAC, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, is the Hebrew version of PJ Library and provides free monthly Hebrew children’s books to thousands of Israeli-American families throughout the United States. SP-BA offers Jewish children, ages 2-8, and their families an opportunity to create a tradition of reading stories in Hebrew together and enjoying meaningful conversations on Jewish topics and themes at home. The goal is to foster affinity for and knowledge of Jewish values from a young age while connecting to Israel. Each year the program grows and increases the number of new families nationwide. Last year 10,000 families benefited from the program. Because of growing demand, IAC has made additional funding possible to support 15,000 families with the program for the coming year. Spots in the popular program fill quickly, so families that register after the 2014-2015 school year capacity fills will be added to a 2015-2016 waitlist. SP-BA has recently partnered with Storyly, the first online library of children’s Hebrew stories, to offer Israeli parents across the United State a new, fun way to improve their children’s Hebrew language skills while nurturing a love of Israeli culture. As part of the new partnership, IAC offers free Storyly subscriptions to SP-BA members. With Storyly’s pioneering service, children can have dozens of Hebrew books read to them by their parents on the storyly.com or on the iPad; they can also listen to stories as audio e-books, or have the stories read to them by friends or relatives via a VIDEO-CHAT experience, based on Google Hangouts technology. For more information regarding Storyly, please visit: http://www.sp-ba.org/free-storyly-subscription. More information on registering for free SP-BA books and becoming eligible for a free Storyly subscription can be found at: http://www.sp-ba.org. To learn more about the Israel-American Council (IAC) please visit: www.israeliamerican.org

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Israel Hayom: Israeli American Council aims to boost Israel from the US

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Adam Milstein, the Los Angeles businessman who was among the founders of the Israeli American Council, says the goal of the group is to contribute to the Israel-U.S. relationship and strengthen the Jewish and Israeli identities of future generations.

Milstein described how the IAC was founded and listed reasons why it has succeeded while other similar ventures have failed.Adam Milstein, the Los Angeles businessman who was among the founders of the Israeli American Council, spoke on Monday on a panel called "The Untapped Strategic Asset: Israeli-Americans" at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Jerusalem.

"We are businesspeople who give not only our time, but also our money and knowledge of the business world to advance a plan of action that we believe in," Milstein said, likening the IAC to a start-up company.

"The State of Israel was behind us from the start and [then] Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles Ehud Danoch initiated the establishment of the organization.

"We formed an Israeli community in the U.S. in order to strengthen the State of Israel and contribute to the special relationship between Israel and the U.S. Additionally, the goal is to strengthen the Jewish and Israeli identity of future generations and to come together with the Jewish community in the U.S.

"The aim is to set up eight offices like this throughout the U.S. We are building an organization of the community in other cities like Miami and Boston, and in New Jersey, in order to reach every Jew in the U.S. and every Israeli-American."