from The Jerusalem Post

Edelstein: US funders won’t torpedo Sharansky

American funders’ opposition to Natan Sharansky’s candidacy for chairman of the Jewish Agency will likely not torpedo his appointment, Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend.

According to Edelstein, who is responsible for the government’s relations with Jewish organizations such as the UJC and the agency, the UJC heads “are making a serious mistake in failing to consider that the government of Israel should be part of the reform process.”

On Thursday, UJC leaders Steve Hoffman, head of the Cleveland Jewish federation, and [Joe] Kanfer [UJC Board Chair] said in a statement that they were not personally opposed to Sharansky’s candidacy.

“However, we have been engaging with our partners in the Jewish Agency, who have been working with us to improve the governance process. It’s our understanding that the new process for selecting a chairman of the Jewish Agency executive was to be followed in order to fill the current vacancy. We believe this important recommendation by the prime minister needs to be considered in this process.”