Other items in today’s column include
* Political bytes
* Recommended reading
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — We have previously announced the names of four San Diegans who have been nominated on different slates to serve as delegates to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem next October. San Diego County is also represented on the new Kol Yisrael slate, backed by a variety of organizations, including StandWithUs and the Israel-American Council, two of the fastest growing Zionist organizations in the U.S.
The slate includes San Diegans Yael Steinberg, the associate director of the StandWithUs office here, and attorney Jonathan Bell, an associate director of StandWithUs’s Saidoff Legal Department.
Kol Yisrael was a late entry slate because it had to first qualify against opposition from other slates. By a vote of 3-0, judges of the Zionist Supreme Court in Israel certified the Kol Yisrael slate and now its nominees, along with those of the other slates, can be found on the web page of the American Zionist Movement, which is the body administering the election for the U.S. delegation.
Kol Yisrael says it will fight for three principles at the World Zionist Congress, which annually distributes approximately $1 billion for Zionist programs around the world. The Kol Yisrael principles are:
• Building real bridges between Jews in America and Israel. We must increase our investment in educational programs, summer camps, social media, and other platforms, in order to deepen the bonds between Jews in America and Israel.
• Engaging and empowering our youth. Every day our members work to inspire young American Jews to be leaders, connect with their ancestral home, and engage with their peers in Israel. We must invest more in this crucial effort.
• Bringing in Jews from many backgrounds and cultivating bold, new Zionist ideas. We must engage more Jewish communities in the American Zionist Movement and bring Israel’s spirit of innovation back to the Zionist world. We will fight
for infrastructure that will provide funding, mentorship, and support for exciting, new programs.
Some specific proposals include creating summer camp programs which feature Israel education, creating one-to-one friendships between Americans and Israelis, providing digital kits about Israel to every bar/ bat mitzvah student in the United States, and strengthening such Israel action/ familiarization programs as StandWithUs and Birthright Israel.
The platform of Kol Yisrael also calls for greater integration into the American Jewish community of Jews from the Persian, Israeli, Bukharin, Ethiopian, and Latino communities. Other planks of the platform call for consideration of merging the World Jewish Congress and the World Zionist Congress, and campaigning in world bodies for the Olympics to be held in 2048 in Jerusalem on the 100th anniversary of modern Israel’s establishment.
San Diegans who are nominated for delegate spots on other slates include Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel of Congregation Beth Israel, on the Vote Reform slate, representing the Reform and Reconstructionist movements; Rabbi Ralph Dalin, the community chaplain employed by the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, on the Mercaz USA (Conservative Judaism) slate; attorney Micha “Mitch” Danzig on the Herut USA slate, and Aaron Raimi on the Vision: Empowering the Next Generation slate.
The United States will send a 152-member delegation to the World Zionist Congress, second in size only to Israel’s delegation. In total, the Congress will seat 500 delegates. Slates will be awarded seats in proportion to the votes they receive from American Jews in balloting that will last from Jan. 21 through March 11.
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Political bytes
*California Gov. Gavin Newsom has endorsed Assemblyman Todd Gloria for mayor of San Diego. “As a former Mayor myself [of San Francisco], I know our Mayors are on the frontlines of the fight to make California’s communities stronger, safer, healthier, and more liveable,” Newsom said. “From housing and healthcare to climate change and civil rights, Todd is an energetic thinker and a compassionate consensus-builder who has tackled California’s big challenges while always putting San Diego first. It’s time we finally returned a progressive leader to San Diego City Hall, and Todd is the candidate who can win and lead in San Diego!”
* Friday brings another deadline for reporting contributions in San Diego’s mayoral race. In an email appeal, San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry wrote on Thursday, “There is a weird (but very important) fundraising deadline for local San Diego races tomorrow. We’re blowing fundraising expectations out of the water, but because we’re running against the entire political establishment, we need all the support we can get. Simply telling your friends and family about your support for my campaign is as valuable as any monetary contribution. But if you or your friends can make a donation of any amount now, we’ll be able to send a hue message to the political class and blast an awesome campaign commercial (it’s almost ready!) on TV and digital media.”
Meanwhile, Bry’s opponent, Assemblyman Todd Gloria, in a similar appeal, wrote: “In a unique idiosyncracy of San Diego Election Law, we have another public fundraising deadline this Friday for the first 18 days of January. … Look I know these fundraising emails can sometimes seem tedious, but I really do need help. Media outlets and pundits are going to be looking at this fundraising number to try and make predictions about the state of the mayoral race, so I cannot let my opponents raise more online grassroots donations than our campaign ahead of this deadline.”
*In another mayoral campaign development, Bry voted in the 3-1 majority, while Councilman Scott Sherman, who also is running for mayor, voted in the minority on a resolution declaring that the city is facing a climate emergency. While no immediate steps were proposed to deal with the emergency, the resolution’s sponsor, City Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, said 1,300 cities in 25 countries have passed similar resolutions, to underscore the urgency of the global situation. Sherman said he was wary of voting for symbolic resolutions, and will wait to see what substantive measures are proposed.
*San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez, a candidate in the 53rd Congressional District, wrote for publication in San Diego Jewish World a position paper favoring a two-state solution in Israel, while rejecting BDS, and supporting Jews and Latinos in the United States making common cause against white supremacists who threaten both communities. On Thursday, she also received the endorsement of the Justice Democrats, whose executive director, Alexandra Rojas, said Gomez “will help create a mission-driven team in Congress to fight for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, dismantling ICD, bringing down the cost of rent, and getting big money out of politics.”
*Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democratic candidate in the open 50th Congressional District, has joined Nate McMurray, a candidate in New York’s 27th District, to call on Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, two former Republican congressmen who pleaded guilty to federal crimes, to not accept federal pensions. Hunter pleaded guilty to misappropriation of campaign funds and Collins pleaded guilty to insider trading. The two candidates said if elected they plan to introduce legislation requiring forfeiture of pensions by congressmen who are convicted of serious crimes.
*Carl DeMaio, a Republican candidate in the open 50th Congressional District, is urging tougher law enforcement to deal with homeless issues. According to his campaign, DeMaio blames a “culture of coddling” homeless for the crisis and says law enforcement must be given back powers to force homeless into mental health and substance abuse programs. DeMaio is committing resources to defeat various tax hikes being proposed by politicians that they claim will go to fund programs for the homeless. “Career politicians are literally throwing good money after bad by funding failure again and again on homelessness,” said DeMaio. “We cannot tax our way out of this homeless crisis — we must enforce our way out of it.”
*City attorney candidate Cory Briggs is distributing a yellow, black, and white yard sign to supporters. Its wording: Briggs: City Attorney: Taxpayer Advocate. A bright sun dots the “I” in Briggs.
*Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas), seeking reelection in the 76th Assembly District, has announced she will be precinct walking at 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, and at 10 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 19. Volunteers will meet at her campaign office at 835 N. Vulcan Avenue, Encinitas.
*Carlsbad City Councilwoman Cori Schumacher has been endorsed by the Carlsbad Firefighters Association in her bid to win the District 1 seat on the recently realigned City Council. Josh Clark, president of Local 3730, said “Whether it is the citizens of this great city, the tourists we attract or the working staff that make it home, Cori speaks to the people and represents the cumulative voice that make this City the best it can be for all of us.”
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Recommended reading
*The San Diego Union-Tribune has an AP story by David Crary about security at synagogues, in which it suggested uniformed officers are a better response than volunteers to potential violence.
*Voice of San Diego has a story about labor union controversy among faculty members at Gompers Preparatory Academy, a situation that, no doubt, would have been discomfiting for the school’s namesake, American Federation of Labor Samuel Gompers.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com