Battle over Habonim heats up in Israel

TALI FEINBERG

“Decisions are being made for us, behind closed doors, as to who our youth-movement [leaders] can interact with and under what terms,” says Daniel Sussman, mazkir (head of the movement) of Habonim Dror South Africa (HDSA).

Some of the issues raised between the kibbutz movement and Dror Yisrael in Israel are: who owns the labour Zionist youth movements? Who should be sending shlichim (emissaries) to Habonim around the world? And where should Habonim olim (immigrants) settle when they go to Israel?

Dror Yisrael is essentially the “graduate movement” of Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, Habonim Dror’s sister movement in Israel, says Sussman.

It leads education programmes around the country, manages Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed’s finances, and assists its graduates to live and work together to improve Israeli society.

It has also sent shlichim to English-speaking Habonim countries around the world. Many Habonim olim from around the globe have joined Dror Yisrael’s urban kibbutzim, in which members live together and work on education and outreach programmes.

“For two decades, the kibbutz movement was involved largely with itself and its own survival. Now, it is experiencing a resurgence, and it wants to take back the role it essentially abandoned. And, believing it is its deserved right, it expects those who filled the void [Dror Yisrael], to move aside. When Dror Yisrael expressed reluctance to do so, things got ugly,” says Paul Mirbach, who made aliyah with Habonim Dror from South Africa in the 1980s.

Essentially, in closed-door meetings between the kibbutz movement, Dror Yisrael, and Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed at the beginning of this year, it was tabled that Dror Yisrael would formally cut ties with Habonim Dror around the world.

This means that Dror Yisrael would no longer send shlichim to these countries, and it would no longer run education programmes for Habonim tours in Israel. This also means that any Habonim olim who joined Dror Yisrael would no longer be able to work with their Habonim counterparts back home. In return, the kibbutz movement would ensure that Dror Yisrael and Hanoar Haoved were funded, and were able to continue their work in Israel.

This possibility led to an outcry around the world, with Habonim youth taking to social media to demand that their voices be heard when making these decisions. Dror Yisrael hopes this will lead to a meeting with the kibbutz movement.

“The problem is that young people are paying the price for politics,” says Julian Resnick, an educator and the former mazkir of Habonim Dror Olami. “The creation of urban kibbutzim has opened up an avenue for young people to find a framework that suits their ideology, and it is a good first step into life in Israel. It’s a win-win, because we want young people to go to Israel and build a progressive society.

“This is a struggle over both direction and budget. The kibbutz movement is saying that if it continues to invest money, it needs to dictate direction. But it shouldn’t be ‘on condition’,” says Resnick.

“We need to allow the youth to choose their own particular tools to enact their ideology, and we have to have trust in young people. Across the board, all allocations bodies face the same question.”

How does this affect Habonim Dror Southern Africa? “It has an impact mainly on the relationships the movement here has with our olim,” says Sussman. “Structurally speaking, of all the English-speaking Habonim centres, we will be the least affected. We are not educationally or structurally dependent on Dror Yisrael. We enjoy a partnership with Dror Yisrael, and we work with it on what it is very good at doing, such as tours of Sderot or peulot (activities) on the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. It is more about the emotional connection… because if this ‘deal’ goes ahead, our graduates who made aliyah will no longer be able to formally work with us.”

Indeed, David Schwartz, who moved to Israel last year, says, “The thing which is most upsetting is that Habonim Dror madrichim who have made aliyah to live out the movement’s values are being prevented from having ties with Habonim Dror members all over the world.” Those who have made aliyah might have to sign a contract to say that they will not work formally with or independently contact Habonim.

“The leadership of Habonim South Africa, which is so strong and is going to lead the movement to new heights this year, is having its decisions and desires totally ignored by the kibbutz movement,” says Schwartz. “I care deeply about and support the kibbutz movement, and want to be its partner in bettering Israeli society for the Jewish people, which is why it’s hard to believe that [the kibbutz movement] is willing to ignore the voice of the youth movement and its graduates in Israel.”

Schwartz points out that “The leadership of Habonim South Africa is busy planning an exciting year for the movement, and is now having to spend time fighting to speak to the very people who led the movement before them and chose to live a life of Jewish and Zionist values in Israel.

“I know that the leadership will ensure that the deep and meaningful connections between Habonim Dror and its graduates continue, while simultaneously teaching and leading the next generation of inspiring movement members. The youth will always make its voice heard – that’s what’s so incredibly special about them.”

Says Sussman, “Our biggest disappointment in these negotiations is that the leaders of the different Habonim Dror countries around the world have not been consulted. A key principle of all youth movements is youth autonomy. It is the youth of Habonim South Africa who own HDSA. We are the ones who decide which partnerships we choose to have. Not the kibbutz movement, and not Dror Yisrael.”