Alon Schuster, the new mayor of the Sha'ar Hanegev region of Israel, finally has stepped into a position that two generations of his family had sought unsuccessfully. His late father, Yehuda, ran for the mayoral post 14 years ago, and a decade later, Alon too was an unsuccessful candidate.

Father and son both had been defeated by Shai Hermesh in their quests to lead this desert region paralleling the northern portion of the Gaza Strip. Last March, Schuster followed that old adage, "if you can¹t lick 'em, join 'em," and became Hermesh's deputy mayor. Notwithstanding their rival candidacies, the two had been friends for many years. Hermesh is a resident of Kfar Aza, one of 10 kibbutzim in the Sha'ar Hanegev area; Schuster is a resident of Mefalsim, a neighboring kibbutz. Last September, Hermesh was appointed as treasurer of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a position considered the Number Two job in the body that implements collaborations between Israel and Jews of the Diaspora.

Alon Schuster

Although Hermesh then resigned as Sha'ar Hanegev's mayor, one of his responsibilities
guaranteed that he would stay close. Among a multiplicity of projects, the Jewish Agency oversees the Ibim student village, which welcomes young immigrants from other countries and prepares them to become students in Israel.

Ibim is a program to which the United Jewish Federation of San Diego contributes $750,000 a year and helps to govern. Because Ibim is in the midst of the Sha¹ar Hanegev area—although technically not part of it —the Federation over the years also has become involved in Sha'ar Hanegev projects. It spent a little less than $500,000 on projects there last year as part of an emergency campaign to help Israel and Jewish immigrants from economically distressed Argentina.

Besides the interest of Hermesh in Sha'ar Hanegev affairs, Schuster also can count on the interest of another highly-placed Israeli politician— in fact the most highly placed. The large ranch of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is situated amid Sha'ar Hanegev¹s 10 kibbutzim and one moshav, and 'Arik,' as the P.M. is called by his neighbors, stays well-informed on local matters.

Schuster is carving out a name for himself as a mayor of the complex region of Israel that borders and sometimes is the target of rocket attacks from the northern portion of the Gaza Strip.

Although Hermesh then resigned as Sha'ar Hanegev¹s mayor, one of his responsibilities
guaranteed that he would stay close. Among a multiplicity of projects, the Jewish Agency oversees the Ibim student village, which welcomes young immigrants from other countries and prepares them to become students in Israel.

Schuster and Hermesh visited San Diego last week to meet UJF officials and  other Jewish communal leaders. In an interview on Wednesday, Nov. 27, Schuster told Heritage that he is working hard to retain the 6,000 residents of Sha'ar Hanegev and to attract another 4,000 residents to his region.

He has urged Israel's government to invest in a new train to carry passengers via Sha'ar Hanegev between Tel Aviv and Be'ersheva. Such a train, he said, will make it easy for people to commute between jobs in Tel Aviv and residences in Sha'ar Hanegev. Furthermore, he wants to help the kibbutzim transition from socialistic farming communities founded during Israel's early years of independence to pluralistic communities in which kibbutzniks and private citizens live side
by side.

He explained that while the generation of his parents like the old socialistic model in which everyone contributed their earnings to the kibbutz, which then parceled out money according to people's needs, younger generations of Israelis want to own their own property and to retain
earnings from their jobs.

Rather than see the younger generation flee from places like Mefalsim and Kfar Aza, Schuster said, he has encouraged programs under which non-kibbutz members can rent homes inside the kibbutz or build private homes on property adjoining the kibbutzim. While such residents are not subject to the kibbutzim's rules, they pay taxes to send their children to schools and
support necessary social services in the region.

Although his parents' generation is not enthusiastic about the philosophical change that partial privatization represents, he said: "I tell them that we are fulfilling your dream in a different way. The main values, the basis of your dream, such as solidarity and caring for each other, are
still the main goals."

Schuster noted that the private citizens take their turn guarding the Sha'ar Hanegev region from attacks from across the Gaza border. "When there is an alarm from the (border) fence, we all jump from our beds," Schuster said.

The rockets shot at Sha'ar Hanegev from the Gaza Strip have discouraged people who have been attracted to the area through the privatization program, but have not deterred his fellow kibbutzniks from remaining in the area, the mayor said. "A farmer who lives under a volcano will come back after the eruption," he observed.

Schuster likes to remind Israel's politicians that if they wish to see Israel's founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion¹s dream of developing the Negev realized, they must pay more than lip service to the idea.

Like other municipalities, Sha¹ar Hanegev feels an economic pinch from the two-year-long intifada. In beefing up its military to defend itself, Israel has had to reduce expenditures elsewhere. Social programs administered by municipalities have been subjected to budget cuts.
Schuster said San Diegans have been helping to sustain social services in the Sha'ar Hanegev region. The $456,000 raised by UJF¹s emergency campaign helped not only in resettlement but also in care for seniors who are infirm, and in programs for children who have no supervision after school.

The mayor said he would like to deepen the relationship between Sha¹ar Hanegev and San Diego. The two areas have commonalities that might not at first be apparent, he suggested.
Sha'ar Hanegev is struggling for its physical existence in the face of military enemies, he said. The San Diego Jewish population meanwhile struggles for continuity in the face of assimilation. Leadership of both communities are concerned with preserving Jewish life, he said.

He recommended partnership programs for students of San Diego and Sha'ar Hanegev. They can study for bar/bat mitzvah together and also do projects for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut and Yom HaShoah together, he suggested. The mayor also expressed a desire for businesses in San Diego and Sha'ar Hanegev to develop joint projects.

Traveling with Schuster and Hermesh to San Diego was Amer Abu M'amar, mayor
of the nearby Bedouin village of Segev Shalom, and Ya'acov Schneider, the former shaliach (Israeli goodwill ambassador) in San Diego who now coordinates San Diego-Israel programs in Israel. Erez Strasburg, the new shaliach in San Diego, escorted them to various appointments.

Youngsters from Segev Shalom participate with those from Sha'ar Hanegev and
from San Diego's Jewish community in the Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute, traveling together and learning about each other¹s cultures.

Schuster said Jewish teens from San Diego who know how it feels to live as a member of a minority can help Israeli Jews relate to the problems the Bedouins feel as a minority.