Toronto,
Ontario
January 5,
2004
For Immediate
Release
UIAFC Strengthens
Canada-Israel Committee's Efforts to Inform
Canadians on
Israel and Increase Support from Canada to Israel
UIA Federations
Canada (UIAFC) and the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC) today announced that
they have reached a comprehensive understanding on strengthening the CIC's
capacity to inform Canadians on issues related to Israel, with the objective
of enhancing understanding of and support for Israel in Canada and promoting
the Canada and Israel relationship. The agreement announced today clarifies
the working relationship of CIC with the new Canadian Council for Israel
and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA), which is being established to help coordinate
the allocation, focus and measurement of the Jewish community's non-partisan
advocacy efforts and the sharing of advocacy resources across the country.
Talks were held between implementation teams representing national and
regional Jewish leadership from the CIC and UIAFC.
Under the new
arrangements, resources will be allocated to support expanded non-partisan
advocacy programs at the CIC for the remainder of the fiscal year. For
example, in November, the CIC and Canadian Jewish Congress sponsored an
opinion-leaders' information mission to Israel led by former
Premiers Mike Harris and Brian Tobin. Meetings
in Israel were held with Prime Minister Sharon, Finance Minister Netanyahu
and Vice Premier Olmert. In addition, the additional funds helped CIC organize
a visit by Members of Parliament and young leadership to Israel this past
fall, and provided seed money to help launch the Ambassadors' Program,
a joint Christian-Jewish dialogue effort to provide more accurate information
on Middle East issues.
Besides new
funding to CIC, agreement has been reached on a shared services approach
whereby important administrative and support areas such as information
technology, accounting, media monitoring and national policy research will
be shared among community advocacy organizations to reduce overhead and
allow more resources to be directed to programming. A set of protocols
is being developed to clarify mandates with other community advocacy organizations
as a means of ensuring optimal coordination. All of these initiatives,
including the launch of CIJA, resulted from a formal review of the existing
Jewish Community advocacy mechanisms undertaken by a voluntary group of
senior business and Canadian Jewish community leaders under the auspices
of the UIAFC. This group, known as the Israel Emergency Cabinet, identified
a series of steps to help the Community improve the quality of Jewish life
in Canada, increase support for Israel and strengthen the Canada-Israel
relationship.
"The step we
are taking today is an important part of the restructuring process we have
launched, for which CIJA will now be a focal point. These actions respond
to the urgent need felt in the Community to better target our efforts in
Canada to improve understanding of Israel's situation, with a view to increasing
support for its efforts for peace and security," said Shoel Silver, President
of UIAFC. "CIC, which has been advocating on behalf of the bilateral relationship
between Canada and Israel for more than 35 years, will now able to take
on a much more prominent role in supporting and encouraging members of
the Community by providing an informed perspective on Israel and the Middle
East. The CIC will now be responsible for non-partisan advocacy on behalf
of the Canadian Jewish Community on all aspects of the Canada-Israel relationship,
whether directly or through multilateral institutions." Mr. Silver continued,
"The Jewish Community must respond to the challenges we face by pooling
our advocacy efforts and speaking with a more effective voice. A strengthened
CIC will play a critical role in helping to shape this collaboration to
address our broader objective of building support in Canada for Israel
and enhancing the Canada-Israel relationship."
"The Canada-Israel
Committee is proud of the role it has played in advocating a more informed
perspective of Israel in Canada," said Joe Wilder, National Chairman of
the CIC. "This new agreement to strengthen collaboration across Jewish
and Israel advocacy groups will result in much more targeted efforts, and
we firmly believe these will result in greater support within Canada for
Israel. There is no question that the CIC will now be in an even better
position to advance the Canada-Israel relationship through its communication
with Members of Parliament, Senators, federal civil servants, provincial
and municipal governments, journalists, academics and others who have an
impact on public opinion in Canada."
Said Norm Godfrey,
Vice-Chair of the CIC: "The additional support for CIC will enhance our
ability to carry out our mandate, which complements and reinforces overall
advocacy efforts by Jewish Canadian organizations. We have a clear mandate
to serve as a central organization in Canada for advocacy on the Canada-Israel
relationship, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora in which Canada
participates." Commenting on the new CIJA, Mr. Godfrey noted, "The establishment
of CIJA will enhance the goal shared by all Canadian friends and supporters
of Israel: to increase understanding of Israel issues in Canada, with a
view to increasing support within the Canadian population for Israel's
efforts towards peace and security. The new financial and human resources
allocated to this objective will go a long way towards making best use
of the resources and talent at our disposal as a Community."
In addition
to ongoing collaboration and discussion at the professional level, Chairman
Joe Wilder, along with Board Members Norman Godfrey, Brian Morris and Sheldon
Lerman met at length with Shoel Silver of UIAFC, Brent Belzberg of the
Israel Emergency Cabinet, and Maxyne Finkelstein, Executive Vice President
of UIAFC to ensure the adjustment to communal infrastructure would enhance
the Community's overall pro-Israel effort and protect the integrity of
the CIC mission.
The CIC implementation
team was headed by Chairman Joe Wilder and included Brian Morris and Shimon
Fogel, Executive Director of the CIC. The UIAFC team was led by President
Shoel Silver and consisted of Brent Belzberg of Toronto, Steven Cummings
of Montreal, and Howard Morry of Winnipeg, as well as Maxyne Finkelstein,
Executive Vice President of UIAFC. The two teams met in person and held
telephone conference calls in order to successfully reach a common understanding
that will most benefit the whole Jewish Community.
UIA Federations
Canada
UIA Federations
Canada is a national Jewish fundraising organization and planning body
devoted to strengthening Jewish communities across Canada, in Israel and
around the world. Over 60,000 Jewish Canadian families support the UIAFC,
its affiliated Federations and Regional Community organizations.
Canada-Israel
Committee
The CIC is
the representative of the organized Canadian Jewish Community on matters
pertaining to Canada-Israel relations. With the aim of promoting and advancing
all aspects of the Canada-Israel relationship, the CIC communicates on
a regular basis with government officials, journalists, academics and others
who have an impact in public opinion in Canada.
For further
information:
Shimon Fogel,
CEO
Canada-Israel
Committee
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