“When we have had significant frictions with the Anglican Church, and particularly with the United Church of Canada, the Catholic Church has been rock solid in its commitment to dialogue and to sharing mutual concerns — including concern for the welfare of the state of Israel,” Goldbloom said.

“If the CJC became more political I don’t think it would change an awful lot,” said Fr. Murray Watson, a Catholic representative in Christian-Jewish dialogue. “But I think it might marginalize some of the really good religious conversation that goes on.”

A source close to the reorganizing process on the Jewish side hoped long-standing relationships would remain intact.

“The hope is that the good stuff remains. Nobody at this stage knows what this entity is going to look like,” said the source, who is not authorized to speak to the media.

Reorganization of most of the large Jewish organizations in Canada began more than seven years ago when a group of major donors to the United Jewish Appeal, unhappy with Canadian Jewish advocacy on behalf of Israel, created the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy. With considerable influence over the purse strings for the CJC, the Canada-Israel Committee, National Jewish Campus Life and other organizations, CIJA has pushed for amalgamation and rationalization of services and programs.

Current plans call for a new structure bearing a single name in June. Some are pushing for the new organization to be called the Canadian Jewish Congress.

Israel is often a topic in Christian-Jewish dialogue. A sharper political focus from the CJC might force churches to be more clear about their position on Israel, according to Watson.

“There’s never one of these meetings I’ve been to that didn’t involve Israel in some way or another,” he said. “The question is not so much whether we talk about politics, but given that politics is at the centre of the discussion, can we find ways to talk about religion?”