Volume 50, Number 9 · May 29, 2003
Money for Israel
By Stephen H. Hoffman, Reply by Amos Elon
In response to What Went Wrong?
(October 21, 1971)
To the Editors:
In his essay "Israelis & Palestinians: What Went Wrong?" [NYR, December 19, 2002] Amos Elon states that United Jewish Appeal (UJA) helped to finance the establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank following the 1967 Six-Day War. This is false.
UJA historically has and currently transmits philanthropic dollars to Israel through the United Israel Appeal (UIA). Long prior to the Six-Day War, UIA adopted the position that "Israel," as referenced in its charter and in a statement to the US Internal Revenue Service, was defined as it existed in 1960. UIA continued to adhere to that position in the years subsequent to the Six-Day War and did not utilize funds raised by UJA to help finance establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
It should be noted that in 1999, UJA, UIA, and the Council of Jewish Federations merged to form United Jewish Communities (UJC).
Stephen H. Hoffman
President and Chief Executive Officer
United Jewish Communities
New York City
Amos Elon replies:
Money famously has no odor. It knows no borders even if UJA tax lawyers—in a long "legalistic" stretch of the imagination—still define "Israel" as a country within its 1967 borders. The fact is that tax-exempt contributions to the UJA reaching Israel after 1967 enabled—and still enable—the Israeli government to direct other public funds to build and expand settlements in the occupied territories. Readers can decide for themselves whether these donations "helped" or did not help Israel to pursue a policy which, in addition to contradicting international law, has neither led to peace nor given Israel security, or, at the very least, "defensible" borders.
