A large part of the current tension between US Jewry and Israel is over liberal values, with non-Orthodox Americans demanding that Israel show respect for their egalitarianism.
Why aren’t US Jewish organizational leaders practicing what they preach in an area in which they have a direct and decisive influence?
The heads of the Jewish Agency in the US and the Jewish Federations of North America gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a shortlist of six candidates for the job – as reported exclusively by The Jerusalem Post – which included diplomats and politicians of varying levels of qualification.
The candidates on the shortlist had something in common: they’re all men.
The Jewish Agency “connect[s] the global Jewish family, bringing Jews to Israel, and Israel to Jews,” according to its website. But the shortlist of nominees for the role of the head of the Jewish Agency executive raises questions as to whether the organization’s patrons expect it to connect with all Jews, or only half.
It’s not that they should pick a chairwoman just for the sake of picking a woman. But not to have even one woman under consideration is simply insulting to half of world Jewry.
Lahav Harkov 