GA special report

    Attendance at the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, which opens today in Jerusalem, is down 30 percent compared to five years ago, when Israel last hosted the event. Head organizer Nachman Shai says the numbers actually indicate the event's success, considering that the world financial crisis has left budget cuts in its wake. Roughly 3,000 participants from the United States, Canada, Israel and elsewhere are expected to attend the opening ceremony of the assembly - considered the most significant gathering of leaders and members of North America's 155 Jewish Federations and 400 communities. In 2003, at the height of the second Intifada, the event drew more than 4,000 North Americans alone. "We really feared a much lower turnout," said Shai, a former army spokesman whose television appearances during the 1991 Gulf War earned him the nickname, the "national calmer." Speaking in his capacity as the UJC's senior vice president and director-general for external affairs, Shai says that in 2003, air fare was cheaper and the U.S. dollar was stronger. "We were subsidized by several organizations in 2003, and the assembly's budget was 50 to 60 percent higher," says Shai. "So you see, we had cause for concern." The 2008 General Assembly coincides with three major events: The Jewish Agency Assembly with 1,000 guests, the Lion of Judah conference with 1,200 participants and the Next Generation Day - a gathering of more than 800 Jews under the age of 45 from around the world. These three events, Shai says, also helped boost attendance and compelled many Americans to make the trip. Unlike the GA, all of the smaller conferences reported they had reached their registration capacity. Jewish Agency Secretary-General Josh Schwarcz told Haaretz that his organization's 2008 assembly would be one of its largest conferences in a decade. Shai says fate threw this year's GA a proverbial bone: Israel's 60th Independence Day. "That also helped a lot. But really it comes down to caring; some people are too cynical to remember that these people [Diaspora Jews] really and truly care about Israel, believe it or not." The world financial crisis will be addressed at the conference, says Shai. Several of the dozens of sessions, panel discussions and lectures at the GA will be devoted to tips on how to conduct Israel-related philanthropy in a post-financial crisis world, Haaretz reported.

     It did not take Barbara Gold very long to make up her mind that she wanted to be a volunteer at next week's United Jewish Communities' General Assembly, which will see some 2,500 Jews from North America arriving. "I want to show (American Jews) that Israel is a comfortable and safe place to live," Gold, who made aliya five years ago, told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday. "If I get to speak to people, then I'll certainly tell them that there is so much on offer here, and hopefully that will plant the seed in their minds that living here one day is possible for them as well." Originally from Houston, Texas, Gold and her husband Daniel will act as ushers on Tuesday evening at a special GA event in Tel Aviv celebrating the city's upcoming centennial. They are among 245 English-speaking olim and long-term residents who will volunteer their time to ensure the smooth running of the GA, which is North American Jewry's central annual gathering to discuss Israel-Diaspora relations. "I think many of our volunteers see themselves as ambassadors of Israel," explained Josie Arbel, director of absorption services at the AACI, who is overseeing the volunteer effort from Sunday's opening ceremony at Jerusalem's International Convention Center until the conference's closing sessions next Wednesday. "We are well placed to bridge Israel-Diaspora relations," she continued, adding that because of the work the organization has done over the past few weeks to get the event up and running, the UJC has officially invited all AACI members and guests to attend Wednesday's closing sessions for free. "I believe that it's a salute to all of Jerusalem's olim and it really shows their appreciation for all that we've done," she said. (08,34)