NEWS STORY: Lauder’s Jewish National Fund election seen as prelude to community-wide post

c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Former ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, an intimate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been elected president of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in a move widely viewed as a stepping stone toward his becoming the American Jewish community’s unofficial spokesman on Middle East matters. Lauder, 52, was […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Former ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, an intimate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been elected president of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in a move widely viewed as a stepping stone toward his becoming the American Jewish community’s unofficial spokesman on Middle East matters.

Lauder, 52, was elected president of the JNF in a special election held Monday night (Feb. 10) in New York, making him eligible to become chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.


The Presidents Conference, as the organization is commonly called, is the umbrella agency for 53 American Jewish organizations, including JNF, that span the spectrum from liberal to conservative. It was formed in 1954 to give the Jewish community one voice when dealing with American officials on Israel and related Middle East and other foreign concerns.

Only those Jewish leaders who head or are the immediate past president of a Presidents Conference member agency are eligible to chair the organization.

A six-member Presidents Conference nominating committee, working behind closed doors, is currently interviewing candidates to replace outgoing chairman Leon Levy, who is set to leave office June 1.

A half-dozen Jewish organization leaders are reported to be vying for the job. Only one will be selected by the nominating committee, virtually assuring their election.

Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune, is an international investor active in the fields of technology and communications. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York in 1989 as the nominee of the Republican and Conservative parties. Lauder is considered a personal friend of Netanyahu, for whom he hosted a private dinner during the Israeli’s first visit to the United States as prime minister last June.”Lauder is the odds on favorite,”said an official with one leading Jewish agency that belongs to the Presidents Conference, speaking on condition of anonymity.”He’s well-connected politically, is a friend of Netanyahu and can raise a lot of money.” Malcolm Hoenlein, Presidents Conference executive director, declined Tuesday to comment on Lauder’s chances of becoming the organization’s chairman.”(Lauder) hasn’t approached the Presidents Conference to put his name into play yet, so therefore it’s all speculative at this point,”said Hoenlein, who reportedly backs Lauder for the post.

Milton Shapiro, JNF’s current president, was not scheduled to conclude his two-year term until the end of 1997, which would have shut Lauder out of the running for chairman of the Presidents Conference during the current nominating process.

However, immediately after Lauder’s election Shapiro stepped down, allowing Lauder to assume the post forthwith. Lauder does not have to relinquish the JNF position to take up the Presidents Conference chairmanship.


Lauder was unavailable for comment.

Mark Cohen, JNF national spokesman, said Shapiro resigned to”facilitate the process and allow Mr. Lauder to become JNF’s new president at this time.” Even if he does not become chair of the Presidents Conference, Lauder, long active in a variety of Jewish causes, will have his work cut out for him at JNF.

JNF has operated under a cloud since last year when word leaked out that the agency, known for its tree planting and other development projects in Israel, was sending only about 21 cents of every dollar it raised to Israel.

JNF officials blamed”financial inefficiencies”but admitted that millions of JNF dollars could not be accounted for. Last year, the 95-year-old organization raised about $36 million.

In a statement issued after his election, Lauder acknowledged JNF’s current difficulties. He said JNF needed to get”our own house in order”if it is to continue as”one of the most successful and longest-standing non-profit organizations ever built.” Officials with some dovish American Jewish organizations who belong to the Presidents Conference and who have been critical of Netanyahu’s hardline approach toward the Middle East peace process said they were concerned by Lauder’s apparent ascendancy to the conference chairmanship.

One prominent dove argued that Lauder”is too ideological”for the job at a time when the American Jewish community is already split between hardliners who want the peace process slowed and those on the left who want its tempo increased.”Given his record, he does not appear to be the conciliatory individual we need now,”said one dove, who declined to be identified.

MJP END RIFKIN

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