Hilary Leila Kreiger and Amir Mizroch, Jerusalem Post, November 2006
Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielsky sparked controversy at the GA by his comments that ‘one day the penny will drop for American Jews that they have no future as Jews in the US… We have to get them to move to Israel.’ His comments were described as “fear-mongering” and “counterproductive” by David Harris of the American Jewish Committee. Bielsky subsequently clarified his position by stating that “striving for a strong Israel at the center of the Jewish world does not negate strong Jewish communities.”
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Michael Kotzin, Jerusalem Post, November 2006
The solidarity of American Jews with Israel during the war with Hizbullah may prove a watershed event in arresting the growing separation between the Jews of Israel and Jews outside of Israel. Assimilation has exerted a strong pull in North America and local concerns have emerged as Jewish priorities. In Israel, the sense of being Israeli has overwhelmed what it means to be Jewish. Jewish Federations throughout North America are proving most effective in fighting this and advancing a functional Zionism for our time.
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Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (press release), November 2006

Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the need to nurture the Jewish identity as one people and for the relationship to be defined more broadly than just facing common dangers. “We share a responsibility to prevent a rift developing between Israeli identity and Jewish identity.” “The collective mission of the Jewish people is also to work for ‘the betterment of the world as a whole … and to make exceptional contributions to the societies in which we live.”
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Esther D. Kustanowitz, The Jewish Week, November 2006

The voice of the under-40 generation wasn’t heard loudly enough at the GA. The focus on “‘one people, one destiny’ is most effective when we acknowledge that Jewish peoplehood comprises many voices… When it comes to creating a lasting impact on Jewish peoplehood, a GA without a balance of youthful voices is at best, non-inclusive, and at worst, next to useless.”
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