The president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), Moshe Kantor, said that today European Jews “should think only how they could strengthen Israel” and “Israelis should think how they could strengthen our communities”.
In a message to the Israeli Presidential Conference ‘Facing Tomorrow’ in Jerusalem, which opened Tuesday night, Kantor said “European Jews, together with all other Diaspora Jewry, have created the State of Israel and that is our biggest achievement ever. Today, we should think only how could we strengthen our beloved state, and Israelis should think how could they strengthen our communities as well.”
The conference, which was opened by Israeli president Shimon Peres, is bringing 1,000 foreign guests to Israel from around the world to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.
The guests include the presidents Albania, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Latvia, Mongolia, Palau, Poland, Rwanda, Slovenia, Uganda and Ukraine.
The conference is mostly about Israel’s achievements and hope for the future.
In his message, Kantor stressed that “as the Diaspora includes more than 2.5 million Jews in 46 vibrant and active communities, the reality of today requires that European Jews care not only about the preservation and security of Israel, but also the way it is treated in the rest of the world”.
“This must be the leading priority of the European Diaspora” he added.
