United Israel Appeal - History

History

The United Palestine Appeal was founded in 1925, to unify the fundraising efforts of Israel based organizations including the Jewish National Fund, Hadassah and Hebrew University. It was dissolved in 1930, but was brought back to life in 1936. In 1939, together with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, it founded the United Jewish Appeal, and was its principal beneficiary.

UIA has been the main source of tax-deductible contributions from American Jewry to the people of Israel and was the primary source of funding for the Jewish Agency for Israel. By 1952 it became known as United Israel Appeal (UIA). In 1971, the Jewish Agency was reconstituted, and UIA's role in the Agency as representative of the U.S. fund-raising community was enhanced to encompass the monitoring as well as the transfer of funds. From its inception, UIA served as the sole American fundraising agency for the Jewish Agency for Israel, and provided a link between the American Jewish community and Israel.

These funds accounted for three-fourths of JAFI's annual operating budget. Due to the funding UIA provided, its board had influence on JAFI's policies, including representation on JAFI's Board of Governors and Assembly.

In 1999 Council of Jewish Federations, (CJF), United Israel Appeal (UIA), and United Jewish Appeal (UJA) merged into the United Jewish Communities (UJC) now known as Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). UIA survived the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of JFNA

Though UIA had the smallest operating budget of the three organizations involved in the merger, its power and land holdings in Israel surpassed both CJF and UJA's influence in Israel.