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Beilin to the Fundermentalist: Birthright was my idea

By Jacob Berkman · June 2, 2008

I'm here in Israel officially on a UJC-sponsored media mission to Sderot and Ashkelon. But the mission to the rocket-pecked areas on Israel's border with Gaza doesn't officially start until Monday night, so the Fundermentalist has been looking for Funder-fun.

Sunday night, I ended up at the Taglit-Birthright mega event, the gathering of several thousand kids 18-26 who are in Israel on the free 10-day trips. It's quite a spectacle and worth checking out if you ever have the chance. I'll have more on the event itself, including video, a little later in the day.

Rest assured, the Fundermentalist found the real juice at the VIP-only-pre-mega-event event. Though the stars of the Birthright funders – Michael Steinhardt, Lynn Schusterman, Charles Bronfman and the like – were, well, the stars of the outdoor buffet of exquisite fare, dozens of other Birthright donors, dignitaries and potential donors milled about a lawn decked out with white couches and delicacies.

The Fundermentalist, though, may have uncovered the answer to a great Birthright mystery: Who really came up with the idea for Birthright?

Conventional philanthropic wisdom has held that it was some combination of Steinhardt and Bronfman and that essentially Bronfman had the idea to take as many North American young adults as possible to Israel, while Steinhardt came up with the idea to make the trips free – and argued vehemently with Bronfman until Bronfman acquiesced.

That's only about a quarter right, according to Israeli MK Yossi Beilin.

Beilin told the Fundermentalist in unequivocal terms that Birthright, widely accepted as the most significant Jewish philanthropic endeavor of this generation, after sending some 180,000 Jewish kids to Israel over the past eight years for free, was in fact HIS idea.

Beilin, speaking with the Fundermentalist within sight of both Steinhardt and Bronfman – at their own party, no less – said that he, Beilin, came up with the idea to send Diaspora Jews to Israel for free in 1993, when he, Beilin, was deputy Foreign Minister under Shimon Peres.

In 1994, he had Danny Abraham price out exactly how much such an endeavor would cost, Beilin said, adding that he then presented the idea to Bronfman, who summarily rejected it. "Charles said, 'Giving the trips for free? No one will respect it,'" Beilin said. "He sent a letter, telling me it was a waste of money."

Beilin, wearing sunglasses at dusk, said that he still has the letter. (His wife, Daniella, listening to the discussion, said that it was a "shonde" that her husband's name has been forgotten in the Birthright discussion.) Beilin also said that he pitched the idea to Steinhardt in 1994, but Steinhardt did not think it would work.

By 1999, Steinhardt, the former hedge fund star had dropped out of Wall Street to become a full-time Jewish philanthropist. He actually approached Beilin about the idea, but said that he was only getting involved if Bronfman was involved.

Beilin thought it would be impossible, but Steinhardt had Bronfman on board within a few days.

Next, Beilin, then the justice minister, brought the idea to then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who secured $70 million from the Israeli government over five years to pursue the project. Steinhardt, Bronfman and other American mega-donors pitched in $5 million each. The American Jewish federation system also put up significant money – and even though "the Jewish Agency fought against it like hell," Beilin said Sunday night, the Jewish world had soup.

And how does Beilin feel while Bronfman and the rest bask in the glory of his idea? "At least the program is running," he said.

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Despite image issue in the U.S. Jewish Agency says it is thriving with Israeli donors

By Jacob Berkman · June 2, 2008

Some major American philanthropists may view the Jewish Agency for Israel with skepticism at best, and at worst plain antagonism. But Israeli philanthropists have a newfound confidence in the organization that helped settle and develop the State of Israel.

So said the man in charge of Israeli fund raising for the Agency in an interview on Sunday with the Fundermentalist.

The Fundermentalist, in Israel on assignment, sat down with the Agency's director of development, Amos Elad, at the organization's Jerusalem headquarters. The topic: Elad's area of expertise, partnerships between Israeli and American philanthropists.

Elad, who oversees Israeli philanthropy for the Agency, says that he has seen a boom in contributions from Israelis since Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. It was during that time that some of Israel's mega-wealthy joined with the Agency, known in Israel as the Sachnut, to give immediate help to Israelis in danger. Most notably, Israel Discount Bank chairman Nochi Dankner funneled some 100 million shekels through the Agency for various relief efforts.

Contributions from Israelis now make up about 10 percent of the Jewish Agency's budget, Elad said. Before the war, they made up next to nothing.

"I definitely see a change after the war," he said. "The war proved to the world and in Israel that the Jewish Agency is a very strong player. Also [in the eyes of] those federations and to those that are skeptical of our work, we did things. We took 40,000 to 50,000 children out of the North and to camps. We did tremendous things during the war. We facilitated world Jewry's money and Israeli philanthropists' money and did what Israel needed."

It also didn't hurt that during the height of Hezbollah's rocket attacks against Israel's north, the Agency's chairman, Ze'ev Bielski – who is generally beloved in Israel – publicly went to the north to deliver air conditioners to bomb shelters.

"It was perceived a little differently here than it was in America," the Jewish Agency's North American spokesman, Jacob Dallal, also in Israel for the week, told the Fundermentalist.

Dallal, who was working as the spokesman for the Israel Defense Force during the war, explained: "America is a little removed. I was not working for JAFI at the time, and I had nothing to do with the Sachnut. I was very busy in the army. But, for example, I did know that they were giving out money to the soldiers. There was a cumulative effect here. Also because the war didn't go so great, especially because on the home front, things were not running smoothly to put it mildly. The Jewish Agency filled in the gap. In the consciousness of the people, it rejuvenated its image here as something that has a strong hand and was able to under duress act quickly and efficiently. There was an image overhaul which I noticed as a complete outsider. It is less felt back in New York."

"Less felt" may be more than an understatement.

According to sources close to the Jewish Agency, a group headed by Charles Bronfman that includes some of the largest American Jewish foundations – including the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation – has been meeting with officials of the Agency since last September in an attempt to force the organization to become more transparent.

Much of the pressure seems to be focused on forcing the Agency to sever ties with the World Zionist Organization, which now appoints half of the Jewish Agency's board.

Jewish Agency officials insist that the organization is working toward becoming more transparent. In the past months, they say, the organization has made all of its employees sign non-conflict-of-interest agreements, and the Agency says that more reforms are in the offing.

Still, American philanthropists are putting the squeeze on the Agency. The Fundermentalist has heard that major players in Cleveland are trying to force the city's Jewish Federation to cease funding the Agency. The federation's president and CEO, Stephen Hoffman, admits that some of his lay leaders have started that conversation but he said emphatically that never will come a day that the Cleveland federation does not fund the Jewish Agency. Some board members could stop their own donations from reaching the Agency, but others will step up with money to take their place, he said.

Israeli mega-donors seem less concerned about the Agency, according to a recent Haaretz story. Israelis, including "Avi Naor, Benny Landa, Eitan Wertheimer, David Kolitz and Noam Lanir have been donating more than $1 million a year for projects that help at-risk youth, Ethiopian immigrants and Holocaust survivors."

Here's a list, provided by Dallal and Elad, of Israeli donors to the Jewish Agency:

Nochi Dankner ,IDB Group Office Depot BIG Elishar Food Corporation Bank Leumi Bar Bino Inc. Giora Akerstein David fatel Home Center Ofra Strauss Miki Strauss Telad Leon Recanati Avi Naor - Oran Foundation Moshe Theumim – Check Point Yuli Ofer Yosi Avrahami Raya Strauss Moti Zisser Microsoft Nike Safra Dan Hotels Perrigo Kardan Eitan Wertheimer Benni Landa Yaakov Neeman Ben & Evelyn Lipshitz Charity Trust Bezq Bronshtein Family Carasso Group Cellebrite COMPEDIA Comsecure Eithan & Ala First ExLibris Fritz Companies Israel T.Ltd HyperMedia Systems Ltd. Keshet Joel And Riva Koschitzky Mashbir Lazarhan MATRIX Israel McDonald's Premiera Reshet SANO Shalmor Avnon Amichai /Y&R SHIBOLET & CO Smile Media

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Koret gives $1 million to Santa Clara

By Jacob Berkman · June 2, 2008

The Fundermentalist will also be watching where Jewish foundations are giving their money – to causes both inherently Jewish and not.

The San Fransisco-based Koret Foundation has given $1 million to Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, part of a $48 million campaign.

The foundation, started in 1979 with money from the estate of fashion entrepreneurs Joseph and Stephanie Koret, has agiven away almost $400 million towards initiatives in the Bay area and Israel, and is heavily involved in Arab-Israeli causes.

If you are a grant maker or grant recipient and know of a significant gift in the offing, give the Fundermentalist a heads up, and the Fundermentalist will give you a nod. Reach me here.

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