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Mar. 1, 2021
Hadassah Women s Zionist Organization is coming under fire close to home for its pivotal role in a Thursday decision by the Jewish National Fund in Israel to allocate money to purchase land in the West Bank for Israeli settlements.
After the decision of Hadassah s JNF Representative Barbara Goldstein to abstain from voting have ultimately permitted the allocation of 38 million shekels ($11.6 million) for future purchases of land in the West Bank, to pass, more than 250 graduates of Young Judaea, the youth movement that has been supported by and associated with Hadassah, signed a petition expressing “pain” at the move and “imploring” it to reconsider its position.
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The board members claim that there were fundamental flaws in the conduct of JNF chairman Avraham Duvdevani during the vote.
The board approved on Thursday the allocation of 38 million shekels ($11.6 million) to buy land in the West Bank by one vote. The organization, which is also known by its Hebrew name Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and which is separate from JNF in the United States, has not yet made a final policy decision, however, to permit the organization to purchase land in the West Bank, which is beyond Israel s sovereign borders.
The five board members who urged the vote be overturned are Haim Cohen, the representative of the World Sephardi Federation; Daniel Avidor of Kahol Lavan; Ronit Boytner of the Israel Movement for Reform Judaism; Rani Trainin of Meretz; and Gadi Perl, the representative of the Conservative movement.