MER - Bronfman's Little Letter

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> It's all much too little much too late of course...but then that is the story of the World Jewish Congress. And the story of how Edgar Bronfman Sr. both bought and stole the WJC back in the early 1980s has yet to be told as well...but it will...<br><br><br>Israel's wall sparks row among US Jews<br>By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem<br><br>telegraph.co.uk- August 10 2003:<br>A furious row has erupted between Jewish leaders in America over Israel's<br>construction of a security fence up to 25ft high around Palestinian areas in<br>the West Bank.<br><br>The row, which has drawn in prominent politicians from America and Israel,<br>has been caused by a letter sent to President George W Bush by Edgar<br>Bronfman, the billionaire scion of the Seagram's drinks fortune and the<br>president of the World Jewish Congress.<br><br>Construction work on the security fence continues<br><br>The letter was co-signed by Lawrence Eagleburger, the former secretary of<br>state under President Bush Snr, who is a close friend of Mr Bronfman.<br><br>In it, the two men criticised the security fence, describing it a<br>"separation wall", and asserted that the continuing construction is<br>"complicated and potentially problematic".<br><br>They also urged the American president to exert pressure on Israel and apply<br>"the same straightforwardness" with the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, as the<br>American leader had shown with the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.<br><br>A copy of the letter was obtained by an intermediary, and then passed to Isi<br>Liebler, a hardliner who, as senior vice-president of the WJC, is Mr<br>Bronfman's deputy.<br><br>At the end of last week, he went on the offensive against Mr Bronfman and in<br>a letter to the Jerusalem Post, accused his president of "perfidy" and<br>called on him to resign unless he retracted his comments.<br><br>He wrote: "It would be obscene at any time for the president of the World<br>Jewish Congress to lobby the president of the United States to resist<br>policies being promoted by the government of Israel.<br><br>But on a security issue such as the security fence, one that impacts on the<br>life and death of Israelis, your intervention - irrespective of whether you<br>formally used your presidential title or not - can only be described as an<br>act of perfidy which will not be swept under the carpet."<br><br>The row has come as Jewish leaders in America wrestle over the "road map"<br>plan for peace and Israel's construction of the fence.<br><br>While those aligned to the peace camp in America have thrown their weight<br>behind the "road map", many Jewish leaders have been vocal in their<br>opposition, suggesting that such support is a betrayal of Israel.<br><br>Right-wing Jewish leaders have attempted to exert pressure on Washington to<br>back off on those parts of the "road map" which focus on Israel's<br>obligations, including an end to settlement once Palestinian militant<br>activity has subsided.<br><br>The pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),<br>and its congressional backers, also wants Mr Bush to focus on "real<br>performance" by the Palestinians.<br><br>The "road map", an internationally backed peace plan for the creation of a<br>Palestinian state in 2005, calls for an end to Israeli settlement and the<br>deployment of international monitors to enforce its provisions.<br><br>Last week, the US secretary of state Colin Powell suggested that Washington<br>may reduce some of its $9 billion (£5.6 billion) of loan guarantees to<br>Israel if work on the fence continues.<br><br>Mr Powell said the barrier was cutting too deeply into the West Bank. "The<br>fence is developing in a way that will make it very difficult to reach the<br>next stage of the road map," he said.<br><br>An Israeli government official conceded that the route of the fence might be<br>altered so it would no longer encircle the large Jewish settlements of Ariel<br>and Emmanuel, in a planned 19-mile detour into the heart of the West Bank.<br><br>As the row escalates, Yossi Lapid, Israel's justice minister, from the<br>secular Shinui Party, and Shimon Peres, the former prime minister, have<br>risen to Mr Bronfman's defence. In a letter of support, Mr Peres said:<br>"Clearly, issues that are open for debate in Israel should be open for<br>debate in the Jewish world."<br><br>The row has brought into the open tensions within the American Jewish<br>leadership and highlighted the issue for many Jews about how far they should<br>question Israel's policies.<br><br>Mr Bronfman is known as one of the harshest critics of AIPAC, one of the<br>most powerful lobby groups in Washington, and of the Conference of<br>Presidents of Major Jewish Organisations, which he believes have been<br>hijacked by hardliners.<br><br>His supporters point to opinion polls showing that about 80 per cent of<br>American Jews support the "road map" process.<br><br>4 August 2003: US in cash threat to halt West Bank fence<br>26 July 2003: Palestinian leader man of courage, says Bush<br>17 June 2002: Israel begins its West Bank 'Berlin Wall'<br>1 May 2003: The road map in full <b on></b> </body>