News from Meretz USA - January 4, 2008

Ron Skolnik - New Executive Director of Meretz USA

Dear Friends,

This week, I proudly took up the mantle of Executive Director of Meretz USA. I'd like to take a few moments to explain why I'm so excited to be a part of this organization.

If a stranger were to challenge me to explain Meretz USA in one short sentence, I would say, simply, that Meretz USA stands for a progressive Israel. All the rest, to paraphrase the legendary Rabbi Hillel, is just the details.

Of course, in order for Israel to be progressive, it first needs to maintain its existence. Meretz USA stands for an Israel whose existence is secure from external threat, and which coexists with its neighbors. Recognizing that peace, not territorial expansion, is the ultimate guarantor of security, Meretz USA supports a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict in accordance with the principle of land-for-peace, and based on the pre-war 1967 lines, except where the parties to the conflict negotiate territorial exchanges.

But Meretz USA, like the Meretz party in Israel, understands that the issue of peace and security - though fundamental - is not the only challenge before which the country is posed. As Israel approaches its 60th "birthday" this May, we look forward to the implementation in practice of Israel's Megilat Ha'Atzma'ut, its Declaration of Independence, which promised, "complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex," and pledged "full and equal citizenship" for the country's Arab citizens.

Meretz USA longs for the day when the "freedom of religion" promised in the Megilat Ha'Atzma'ut is manifested in an Israel in which all streams of Judaism - Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Secular, and not only Orthodox - are allowed, indeed encouraged, to blossom and thrive.

Meretz USA also understands that one of the ultimate challenges of the 21st century is to sustain planet Earth. That's why we note with admiration that it was the Meretz party that first introduced an environmental perspective to Israeli politics and applaud the party's recent commitment to a "Green Code of Conduct".

As an American Jew and as a citizen of the USA and Israel, I'm proud to be part of an organization that gives expression to the many progressive forces in Israel striving for peace, equal rights, social justice, religious pluralism and environmental sustainability. These are the causes that I believe in, they're the causes that Meretz USA supports, and I hope you support them as well. I look forward to your continued support as we work to spread our message in the weeks and months ahead, and I welcome your ideas and suggestions to help us make that happen.

Next week, I will be going to Israel on Meretz USA's annual mission, our "Israel Symposium". I will share my impressions with you upon my return.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy New Year,

Ron Skolnik 

Meretz USA Statement 

New York, NY - January 2, 2008 As the new calendar year begins, Meretz USA is proud to announce that Mr. Ron Skolnik is today taking up the reins as the organization's new Executive Director. Mr. Skolnik is replacing Mr. Charney V. Bromberg, who is entering retirement following ten years of dedicated service to Meretz USA and decades of accomplishments in American Jewish communal life and the US civil rights movement.

Meretz USA, one of the oldest American Zionist organizations, has been a leading advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One of the founding members of the American Zionist Movement, Meretz USA is the US affiliate of an international network of progressive Zionist bodies, whose Israeli member is the Meretz Party headed by Member of Knesset, Dr. Yossi Beilin.

A highly regarded policy analyst, Mr. Skolnik lived in Israel over two decades, working as the political advisor for the British ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Foreign Office in London. His writing has appeared in leading Israeli publications, including Haaretz and the Jerusalem Report. A fluent Hebrew speaker, Mr. Skolnik received his BA in History from the University of Haifa, and his MA in Israeli-Arab Diplomatic History from the University of Tel Aviv. In Israel, Mr. Skolnik served in the IDF and spent several years on a kibbutz, where he worked as a translator and editor and even managed a poultry farm. He has served as Assistant Director of Meretz USA since 2005, and is an avid chess enthusiast.

On December 9, 2007, the Executive Board of Meretz USA also elected three new Vice Presidents: Ms. Roberta Elliott, Prof. Leonard Grob, and Mr. Marcello Hallake.

Roberta Elliott is a long-time professional in the area of American Jewish public relations. Leonard Grob is Professor Emeritus at Fairleigh Dickinson University, former chair of the Philosophy Department, a specialist in the Holocaust and its relationship to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and author of many books and scholarly articles, the most recent of which is, "Teen Voices from the Holy Land: Who Am I to You?". Marcello Hallake is an international business attorney with Thompson & Knight LLP, and President of the Geneva Initiative North America (GINA).

The Meretz USA Board also reelected for additional one-year terms the following officers:

President: Mr. Lawrence I. Lerner
Chair: Mr. Theodore Bikel
Vice President: Ms. Phyllis Miriam
Treasurer: Mr. Mark Seal
Secretary: Mr. Arieh Lebowitz

For more information on the officers re-elected, please see our Press Release of January 30, 2007, available online at http://www.meretzusa.org/larry-lerner-theo-bikel-elected-head-meretz-usa.