WJC Regional Reports 2011 - World Jewish Congress

2011 

REGIONAL REPORTS 

EuroAsian Jewish Congress 

European Jewish Congress 

WJC Israel 

WJC Latin America 

WJC North America 

World Jewish Congress 

Executive Committee Meeting 

New York, 29 March 2012

EAJC Report 


10.01.2011 EAJC Rabbi Council Secretary General to Lead Dialogue with Eastern Churches 

Pinkhas Goldschmidt, member of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), the Head of the 

Rabbinical Council and the Chief Rabbi of Moscow was nominated as the World Jewish Congress 

(WJC) representative in relations with the Eastern Christian churches. 

12.01.2011 EAJC President Becomes Academician 

Alexander Machkevitch, the President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Doctor of Philosophy has 

been elected a full member of the Russian Academy of Social Sciences (RASS). This was announced 

by Gennadiy Osipov, the President of the Academy, a full member of the Russian Academy of 

Sciences (RAS) at a joint assembly of the RASS and the Academic Board of the RAS Institute of 

Socio-Political Research, which took place in the President Hall of the main RAS building in Moscow. 

16.01.2011 Alexander Machkevitch Creates Support Fund for Social Research 

Alexander Machkevitch, the President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and 

representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences agreed to create a Social Research Support 

Fund. The Fund shall instigate an international prize to mark the main achievements in social and 

political sciences. Another task of the fund will be the support of talented young scholars and their 

promising research projects with grants. 

23.01.2011 EAJC President Visits Moldova 

Alexander Machkevitch, the EAJC President made a working visit to Chisinau. The EAJC leader met 

with Marian Lupu, the Acting President of the Republic of Moldova, Parliament Chairman and 

Vladimir Plahotniuc, the First Vice Speaker of Parliament. The parties discussed the general 

situation in the republic, the conclusion of the recent parliamentary elections and the Jewish life in 

Moldova. 

03.02.2011 XVIII International Jewish Studies Conference in Moscow 

The XVIII International Jewish Studies Conference took place in Moscow on February 1-3, with the 

support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC). It is one of the central academic events of the 

year in post-Soviet Jewish Studies. This conference yearly gathers hundreds of scholars from 

Russia, CIS countries, the Baltic countries, USA, and Israel. 

05.02.2011 EAJC President Greets the European Friends of Israel in Jerusalem 

On February 5, Alexander Machkevitch, the President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) 

spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Policy Conference of the European Friends of Israel, 

which gathered around 500 European Parliament members, as well as representatives from the 

respective parliaments of most European countries. 

06.02.2011 EAJC Delegation Partitipates in Herzliya Conference Opening 

A representative deleation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) participated in the opening 

ceremony of the 11th Annual Hezliya Conference dedicated to Israel's national security. The 

Herzliya forum is the most representative platform for an informal discussion of strategic questions 

pertaining to the present and future of the Jewish state, widely known as the "Jewish Davos." 

EURO-ASIAN JEWISH CONGRESS REPORT: PAGE 1 OF 7

This year, the EAJC was one of the main sponsors of the forum. The delegation for the forum, 

headed by Alexander Machkevitch, the EAJC President included the EAJC Vice Presidents: Alexander 

Bronstein, Emmanuil Greenshpun, Merab Elashvili, Gabriel Mirilashvili, Michael Mirilashvili, Yuri 

Raskin, Mark Shabad, as well as Michael Chlenov, Secretary General and Josef Zisels, the General 

Council Chairman. Shimon Peres, the President of the State of Israel was a guest of honor at the 

opening ceremony. 

07.02.2011 EAJC Delegation Visits Central Keren Hayesod Office 

The delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), headed by Alexander Machkevitch visited 

the central office of the "Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal Fund" in Jerusalem on the occasion 

of the Fund's 90th anniversary celebrated this year. For the last several years, the EAJC President 

has been the Keren Hayesod President in CIS countries. Greg Masel, the Keren Hayesod Director 

General talked to the EAJC representatives about the fund's current projects and the events 

planned for the near future. 

07.02.2011 EAJC Presidium Meeting 

The acting governing body of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, its Presidium, held a meeting in the 

Tel-Aviv hotel Hilton. They adopted the EAJC buget for the first quarter of 2011, as well as a 

decision to support rabbis in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Dushanbe, as well as to provide matzot for 

Eurasia's communities. A decision was also made to help the Kyrgyzstan Jewish community with 

providing video surveillance for community-owned property. 

08.02.2011 Jewish Diplomatic Mission in Greece 

A joint diplomatic mission to Greece of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and the Conference 

of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations began on February 8, 2011. Similar missions 

by the leading Jewish structures have previously visited the Republic of South Africa, Georgia, 

Kazakhstan, and Marocco. The mission was headed by Michael Chlenov, the EAJC Secretary General 

and Alan Solow, the Head of the Conference of Presidents. The delegation of over sixty members 

included representatives from the EAJC, the Conference of Presidents, the European Council of 

Jewish Communities, and the Russian Jewish Congress. February 9, 2011 Karolos Papoulias, the 

President of Greece met with the joint Jewish diplomatic mission in Athens. February 11, 2011 

participants of the joint diplomatic mission of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and the 

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations met with Ieronymos II, the 

Archbishop of Athens and all Greece. 

18.02.2011 International Seminar on Tolerance to be Held Near Kyiv 

On February 18-20, a seminar for teachers of the International Children’s Camp “Roots of 

Tolerance” took place in Puscha Vodica, near Kyiv. The seminar was organized by the Congress of 

National Communities of Ukraine with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. 

The seminar gathered 50 representatives from 12 national communities of Ukraine: Ukrainan, 

Greek, Jewish, Moldovan, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Armenian, Russian and German. A group of 

teachers from Moldova was also be present. The goal of the seminar was to augment the 

qualifications of the workers of the “Roots of Tolerance” camp, to improve the “national days,” and 

to teach new methods of counteracting discrimination and xenophobia. 

17.02.2011 Round Table on Xenophobia Takes Place in Kyiv 

The round table "Problems of Xenophobia in Ukraine: Causes and Effects" has taken place in Kyiv. 

Its participants included politicians, deputies, public figures, and experts. Among the speakers were 

Josef Zisels, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) General Council Chairman, Anna 

Lenchovskaya, the Congress of National Communities of Ukraine (CNCU) Executive Director and 


Vyacheslav Likhachev, the EAJC General Council member and an expert on the problems of 

xenophobia and intolerance. 

19.02.2011 EAJC Supports Book About Professor Kaplanov 

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) provided its support for the publication of a book entitled 

"Rashid Muranovich Kaplanov. Works. Interviews. Memories." The book was published by the Sefer 

Center of scholars and university Judaica professors, which is a part of the Euro-Asian Jewish 

Congress. The book is dedicated to the memory of the important scholar and teacher, the 

longstanding chairman of the Sefer Center's Academic Board, who passed away in 2007. The book 

includes the scholar's works of various years, mostly dedicated to Jewish Studies, transcripts of 

some of his lectures, his reviews, essays, interviews, and the memories of those who knew him. 

20.02.2011 EAJC Leader Meets With Guinea President 

The President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) made a working visit to the Republic of 

Guinea. The visit including a meeting with the Guinea President in the capital, Conakry, during 

which the two leaders discussed a number of business and humanitarian questions. 

21.02.2011 EAJC President visited the Republic of Niger 

During his working visit to Africa Alexander Machkevitch, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress President 

visited the capital of the Republic of Niger, Niamey, where he met Mahamadou Issoufou, the leading 

candidate for presidency in the upcoming March elections. During the meeting with the African 

politician, they discussed questions of economic and social development of the republic, and 

potential possibilities for cooperation. 

25.02.2011 Second Session of the Russian-Israeli Cooperation Forum 

The second session of RICF took place. In the summer of 2010, a new organization was created in 

Moscow – the Russian-Israel Cooperation Forum (RICF). The founders of the forums were, from the 

Israeli side, the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC) Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS| 

and, from the Russian side, the Russian Public Policy Center (RPPC). Professor Michael Chlenov, the 

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) General Secretary became a member of the RICF Coordination 

Council. The main task of the Forum is to aid in the development of the Russian-Israel relations, 

and the building of a web of social and political contacts between the elites of the two countries. 

24.03.2011 EAJC Assists in Publishing New Tome of "Book of Memory" 

The 10th volume of the "Book of Memory of Warrior Jews Killed in Battles with Nazis" has been 

published. The 12-volume publication is published by the Russian Union of Jewish Invalids and War 

Veterans (SEIVV). The 10th volume includes data on 5479 Jews that served in the army. The Euro- 

Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) has traditionally aided in the publishing of the work, and Alexander 

Machkevitch, the EAJC President and Michael Chlenov, the EAJC Secretary General received a 

special dedication on the first pages of the most recent volume. 

30.03.2011 Concept of Jewish Museum Discussed in Lviv 

Josef Zisels, the Chairman of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) General Council moderated a 

discussion of the proposal for a Museum of Galitsian Jewish History and Culture, which took place in 

the Lviv "Hesed-Arieh." It is well-known that despite an abundance of Jewish heritage accumulated 

in Ukraine, the process of placing it in a museum has barely been begun. The Chernivtsy Museum of 

the History and Culture of Bukovinian Jews, created with EAJC help, is an exceptional case. Jewish 

museums in Ukraine also include the Migdal – Jewish Museum of Odessa, and the Ukrainian Jewish 

Community History and Holocaust History Museum that is planned to open in Dniepropetrovsk. 


04.04.2011 Meeting of EAJC and ECRI Representatives 

A working meeting between the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance delegation 

and representatives of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress took place in the Kyiv office of the Council of 

Europe. The ECRI delegation, comprised of Sarah Burton (representative of the Commission 

Secretariat), Gudgrun Holgersen (represents Norway in the Commission), and Vesna Rakic- 

Vodinelic (representative of Serbia), was visiting Ukraine as part of the preparation for the Fourth 

ECRI Report on the situation in the country. Once in five years such reports are made on all 

countries that are a part of the Council of Europe. The previous, Third Report on Ukraine had been 

released in 2007, and the Fourth will be published in 2012. As part of the visit, the ECRI delegation 

met with representatives of the authorities, as well as various non-governmental organizations and 

experts. 

05.04.2011 EAJC Delegation Participates in Washington ILR Meeting 

A representative delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, headed by Alexander Machkevitch, 

the EAJC President and Merab Elashvili, the Vice-President participated in the International 

Leadership Reunion (ILR) forum in Washington. ILR regularly brings together leading Jewish 

philanthropists from all over the world under the auspices of Keren Hayesod. - United Israel Appeal. 

Alexander Machkevitch heads the CIS sector of Keren Hayesod. More than one hundred major 

philanthropists, supporting various programs in Israel and for Israel, as well as leaders of major 

Jewish organizations and representatives of Israeli official and public structures gathered in the U.S. 

capital. 

14.04.2011 EAJC-Published Books Presented in Jerusalem 

On April 13, 2011, two books from the "Congress Library" series were presented in Jerusalem. 

Israel Palhan, one of the most noted refuseniks and Hebrew teachers, presented a book of memoirs 

written by his mother, Leah Trahtman-Palhan, titled "Memories: From Little Tel-Aviv to Moscow." 

The "Studia Anthropologica" collection of articles, published for the 70th anniversary of Professor 

Michael Chlenov, the EAJC Secretary General includes articles written by the colleagues, friends, 

and students of the hero of the anniversary. The articles exhibit a wide range of topics connected 

with Michael Chlenov's scholarly interests, including general anthropology, Jewish Studies, 

Indonesian Studies, and Escimo Studies. The collection was presented by Artem Fedorchuk, the 

editor and the director of the International Center for Jewish Education and Field Studies. 

05.05.2011 EAJC Delegation Participates in Annual AJC Meeting 

A representative delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) headed by Josef Zisels, the 

EAJC General Council Chairman, and the VAAD Ukraine Chariman took part in the annual congress 

of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), which took place from the 27-29th of April in Washington. 

The EAJC delegation included many Jewish community leaders from the Euro-Asian region. EAJC 

representatives spoke at a special assembly, where they described the situation in EAJC 

communities to the delegates. 

15.05.2011 EAJC Representatives Meet With Israeli Diplomats 

On the 12th of May, Josef Zisels, the Chairman of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) General 

Council was part of a group of Jewish leaders of Ukraine that met with Ronen Plot, the Director 

General of the Ministry for Public Diplomacy and Zina Kalai-Kleatman, the Diaspora and the 

Ambassador Plenipotent of the State of Israel in Ukraine. The meeting also included Dr. Anatoly 

Podolsky, the EAJC General Council Member, Director of the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies 

and Yana Yanover, Director of the Ukrainian Center of Jewish Education, Arkady Monastyrsky, 

President of the Jewish Forum of Ukraine, as well as Yakov Dov Blaich, the Head Rabbi of Kyiv and 

Ukraine. The meeting was dedicated to the preparation of memorial events for 70 years since the 

beginning of the Babiy Yar execution of Kyivan Jews. 


26.05.2011 EAJC Secretary General Met With Rabbi Andrew Baker 

A working meeting took place between Professor Michael Chlenov, the Secretary General of the 

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and Rabbi Andrew Baker, the personal representative of the 

current OSCE chairman on combating anti-Semitism and a member of the leadership of the 

American Jewish Committee. During their visit, a number of moments concerning the effects of the 

Jackson-Vanick amendment in modern circumstances were discussed. The possibility of joint 

monitoring of the current anti-Semitism situation in post-Soviet territory was also discussed. At the 

end of the meeting, both sides confirmed their dedication to cooperating as partners. 

20.06.2011 Jerusalem 

During the Jerusalem meeting of the EAJC Presidium, Alexander Mashkevich announced his 

intention to step down as the organization's President 

01.07.2011 Kazakhstan 

The “Freilehe Kinder” children's creative and educational camp/festival took place on July 1-5 in 

Karaganda (Republic of Kazakhstan) with the organizational aid of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. 

The festival, sponsored by the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, gathered over 180 children from 

all over Kazakhstan. The event included a music and dance festival with theater elements, different 

workshops and team-building games, which teach children teamwork, principles of mutual aid, all 

the while allowing them to learn the history and traditions of the Jewish people. 

04.07.2011 Ukraine 

The Jewish historic camp "Shorashim – Roots and Future of Ukrainian Jews" has begun its work on 

July 4, 2011. "Shorashim-2011" was opened with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress 

(General Council Chairman Josef Zisels), the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities 

(VAAD) Ukraine, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), and the Genesis Foundation. 117 children from 

four countries – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Israel – took part in the camp this time. The 

Shorashim camp allows children to immerse themselves in the life of a Jewish community in a safe 

and propitious environment. A child is given the opportunity to grow and gain personal 

independence, social skills, and new interests. All of the events at Shorashim are enriched by 

Jewish values and culture. 

22.07.2011 Ukraine 

On the 22nd of July, 170 children aged from 7-17 participated in the opening of the International 

Children's Camp “Roots of Tolerance”. The participants of the camp were children from national 

communities of Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, as well as child refugees and children from various 

minorities – Angolan, Afghani, Armenian, Assyrian, Bulgarian, Congolese, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, 

German, Greek, Iranian, Jewish, Korean, Kyrgyz, Moldovan, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Tajik, 

Uzbek, and Chechen. They will all be able to immerse themselves into the national and cultural 

traditions of different people. This is the fourth year in which refugees to Ukraine from various 

flashpoints have been participating in the camp. 

25.08.2011 Moscow 

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General Michael Chlenov participated in a meeting of the 

Consultative Group of Experts on National Communications, which took place in the Russian White 

House, led by the head of this interdepartmental workgroup, Vice Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry 

Kozak. Among those invited to the meeting were representatives of federal national cultural 

autonomies, large-scale national unions, religious groups, as well as experts in inter-ethnic relations 

and journalists. The topics of discussion included the ethnocultural development of the peoples of 


Russia, the creation of harmonious interethnic relations, and the formation of the civil nation of 

Russia. During the meeting, Michael Chlenov gave Dmitry Kozak the report on monitoring anti- 

Semitism in 2010, prepared by EAJC experts. 


The Moscow Independent Press Center hosted a presentation by the Expert Group on Anti-Semitism 

of the Jewish community of Russia, which was created several years ago with the support of the 

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. 


As part of the systematic efforts of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress to explain the position of the 

Jewish community on the unilateral proclamation and recognition of the Palestinian State, EAJC 

Secretary General Michael Chlenov met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian 

Federation, Michael Bogdanov. 

At the meeting, the EAJC Secretary General gave the Deputy Minister the EAJC statement on the 

upcoming UN vote, and explained the position of the Jewish community of the Euro-Asian region on 

the situation. Michael Chlenov displayed extreme concern with the negative consequences of the 

possible unilateral proclamation of Palestinian statehood for the peace process and stability in the 

Near East. 

In turn, Michael Bogdanov explained the position of the Russian side. According to him, Russia's 

position remains unchanged – as the legal successor to the Soviet Union, it must confirm the 

independence of the Palestinian state. At the same time, the diplomat said that Russia will be ready 

to support any UN decision made following correct procedure. 

Bogdanov stressed that the Russian Federation remains a member of the Near East quartet, and as 

a member of this quarter will direct all possible efforts to continue the peace process, which has 

currently, according to him, “ground to a halt.” He also said that the representatives of the quartet 

would hold a meeting before the UN vote to discuss the situation. 


The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress held a press conference on the UN vote about the Palestinian state 

in the Moscow Independent Press Center. Speaking at the press conference, EAJC Secretary 

General Michael Chlenov voiced the position of the Congress about the unilateral proclamation of 

the Palestinian state, and of the possible vote at the UN General Assembly. This position was clearly 

pronounced in the Congress statement, which stresses that “unilateral actions, which are 

unambiguously excluded by these legal documents, will make the entire preceding peace process 

meaningless, moving it backward to far beyond its starting point.” 

02.10.2011 Kiev, Ukraine 

The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress held the 

memorial evening “Babi Yar 70 Years” at the National Palace of Arts. Among those invited to the 

memorial evening were leaders of Ukrainian Jewish organizations and communities, as well as 

leaders of international Jewish organizations, important Ukrainian and European politicians, 

representatives of the US Congress. 


The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General, Professor Michael Chlenov took part in the 

seminar for the tutors of the course "Basics of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics," organized by 

the Federal Education Institute. Over 300 tutors hailing from different regions of the Russian 


Federation gathered in Moscow for this study course. They were preparing teachers to teach the 

six-module course dedicated to the four traditional religions of the Russian Federation (Orthodox 

Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddism), basic tenets of other world religions, and the basics of 

secular ethics. Professor Chlenov gave a lecture on the module "Basics of Judaic Culture." While 

discussing the topic of teaching basics of "Basics of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics" with the 

future teachers, the EAJC Secretary General noted that the implementation of this course into the 

school program of several regions should be seen as the beginning of the meeting between Russian 

school children and the traditional religions of the Russian Federation and the basics of other world 

religious cultures. 

24.11.2011 Jerusalem 

The famous businessman and philanthropist Vadim Shulman was unanimously confirmed as the 

Acting President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress at the EAJC General Council session that took 

place in Jerusalem. 


European Jewish Congress 


JANUARY TO MAY 

European Institutions 

March 2011: Cwajgenbaum together with Betty Ehrenberg met with Francesco Bandarin, Director of 

the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Assistant Director-General for Culture regarding the ruling by 

UNESCO that the Tomb of Patriarch and the Tomb of Rachel be removed from the Israeli National 

Heritage list. 

April 2011: Kalenova in Strasbourg for meetings with MEPs on the withdrawal of the Goldstone 

resolution. 

May 2011: Cwajgenbaum in Strasbourg at the session of the European Parliament to attend two 

hearings on the issue of the Flotilla (one hearing organized by the Turks and one organized by the 

Israelis). Had the opportunity to meet several MEPs from various political parties and discussed with 

them both the issue of the PA and Hamas reconciliation as well as the forthcoming vote at the United 

Nations due to take place in September 2011; also lobbied on the issue of Shechita. Cwajgenbaum 

met with Israeli Ambassador to the EU, H.E. Ran Curiel. 

Political encounters 

January, 2011: In Brussels, an EJC delegation led by EJC President Moshe Kantor met with 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, President of the Council of the European Union. Topics of 

discussion were: the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, the delegitimization of Israel and the Iranian 

threat. The Hungarian PM ensured the delegation that there will be an open door for the EJC on 

Jewish Affairs during Hungary’s presidency of the EU. The issue of the growing influence of the farright 

in parts of Europe was raised. Kantor singled out the Hungarian far-right party Jobbik, and in a 

more general way the growth of anti-Semitism in Europe. PM Orbán agreed with the EJC that attacks 

on Israel and classic anti-Semitism are both equally unacceptable. He also expressed his opposition to 

the campaign assaulting Israel’s legitimacy. In response to the concern about Hungary’s controversial 

new media law, Orbán explained that the new law is meant specifically to combat the propaganda of 

the extreme right. The delegation was composed of Vivian Wineman President of the Board of 

Deputies of British Jews, Richard Prasquier President of CRIF, Peter Feldmajer and Gusztav Zoltai, 

respectively President and Executive Director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary, 

Serge Cwajgenbaum EJC Secretary General, Raya Kalenova, Deputy Secretary General, Arie 

Zuckerman advisor to EJC President, and Myriam Glikerman personal assistant to EJC Sec Gen. 

Anti-Semitism 

May 2011: Press release – following Lars von Trier's anti-Semitic comments at a press 

conference at the Cannes film festival 

"Von Trier's remarks serve as another reminder of the seeming comfort that anti-Semites feel 

expressing their prejudices in public gatherings" Said Dr. Moshe Kantor, European Jewish Congress 

President."We have seen too many examples of 'respectable Antisemitism' in Europe during the last 

EJC REPORT : PAGE 1 OF 8

year and Von Trier's outburst is merely another example. There must be consequences for these types 

of racist tirades, or it will just continue and escalate. It is vital that the European political leadership 

draw a line and legally proscribe hate speech, because Jews are becoming the fashionable target of 

increasingly intolerant elements within the political, academic and entertainment strata. Just as the 

fashion industry has made John Galliano an outcast because of his hate speech, so the 

film industry should do the same with Von Trier." 

Inter-religious activity 

March 2011: Cwajgenbaum and Glikerman attended the 21st International Catholic-Jewish Liaison 

Committee in Paris. Cwajgenbaum met separately with Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum from FFEU. 

Cwajgenbaum and Glikerman attended the meeting of Muslim and Jewish leaders from across Europe 

gathered in Paris as a follow-up of the Brussels meeting, at the initiative of the Foundation For Ethnic 

Understanding, the WJC and the World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations. 

Israel 

April 2011: EJC President Moshe Kantor met with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and 

invited him to a European conference of heads of state which will take place in the coming months to 

discuss the assault on Israel’s legitimacy. Kantor and Netanyahu discussed the issues of anti- 

Semitism, Iran and agreed to closer coordination on issues concerning Israel and European Jewry. 

EJC Executive meetings and General Assembly 

January 2011: Meeting of WJC directors 

While in Brussels, Cwajgenbaum and Glikerman attended the working meeting gathering all directors 

of WJC regions in presence of Michael Schneider WJC acting Secretary General and Dan Diker future 

Secretary General. 

April 2011: General Assembly 

Prior to the EJC General Assembly in Budapest, which took place on Sunday April 3rd, President 

Kantor met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, President of the Council of the European 

Union, accompanied by leaders of the Hungarian Jewish community Zoltai and Feldmajer, as well as 

Cwajgenbaum and Kalenova. During the meeting, Kantor called for the European Parliament to retract 

its endorsement of the Goldstone Report, and also called on the Hungarian prime minister to push for 

an upgrade of EU-Israeli relations, which were suspended following the EU Parliament’s endorsement 

of the Goldstone report. PM Orban also expressed his interest in Kantor’s initiative of establishing a 

“European Institute on Tolerance and Security.” 

EJC hosted an intercommunity Shabbat followed by the EJC annual General Assembly in Budapest the 

1st – 3rd April, under the presidency of Moshe Kantor. On the agenda: The recent revolutions in the 

Arab world and the implications for Europe and Israel; the Current Challenges the Jewish communities 

in Europe are facing, including the rise of anti-Semitism, the rise of populism and the delegitimization 

of Israel; the ongoing issue of Shechita in Europe; Jewish demography in Europe; the Iranian threat. 


A number of resolutions were also discussed and will be adopted shortly. The Assembly included the 

annual EJC financial report from the EJC treasurer, Rabbi Yaakov Bleich. 

Special guests included: Ehud Yaari, Israeli journalist on the recent Arab revolutions; Sima 

Shine, Head of the Strategic Division of Israel National Security Council, on the Iranian nuclear threat. 

EJC Secretary General Cwajgenbaum gave an update on the current issues of importance for 

European Jewry, as well as outlining new EJC Action Plans for the future. These included strategies for 

improving Judeo-Muslim dialogue and combating the delegitimization of Israel. 

Sessions chaired by: Claudia de Benedetti, Vice President, Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane, 

Dieter Graumann, President of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland, Vivian Wineman, President of 

the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Richard Prasquier, President of the Representative Council of 

French Jewish Institutions. In addition Posner-Körösi, President of the Council of Swedish Jewish 

Communities, made a presentation on the current situation of European Jewry, focusing on anti- 

Semitism in Europe and particularly the situation in Malmö, Sweden. 

Delegates from 30 European communities attended the General Assembly which adopted resolutions 

on: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Shechita in Holland, Middle-East NGOs, anti-Semitism, Restitution 

and Internal affairs. 

Organisation and coordination of the General Assembly was managed by Myriam Glikerman, with 

assistance from EJC Paris office staff, Naomi Firsht and Michel Lamy. 

Remembrance of the Shoah 

Commemoration of January 27 2011: EJC President Kantor addressed the International Holocaust 

Remembrance Day which was organized at the European Parliament under the patronage and in 

presence of EP President Jerzy Buzek, Israeli Minister for Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli 

Edelstein, Catherine Ashton High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, 

WJC President Ronald Lauder, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem Israel's Holocaust 

memorial, several survivors of the Shoah, several ambassadors of European countries to the European 

Union, many MEPs and commissioners as well as a very large audience of 400 people. Several 

holocaust survivors and a Righteous among the nations participated in a lighting Ceremony. The 

Ra’anana Symphony Orchestra performed “From Vienna to Auschwitz, the Alma Rosé story” This 

commemoration was co-organized by the EJC Brussels office, run by Raya Kalenova. Kantor, in his 

closing remarks, gave thanks to everyone participating. This event received very wide press coverage. 

Educational fieldtrip to Auschwitz-Birkenau: Glikerman in Lille for planning meetings of the 

educational visit to Auschwitz organised for councelors and French high-school students due to take 

place in November 2011. Also had several working sessions in Brussels with Joël Kotek and in Paris 

with Jean-Yves Potel, historians specialized on the Holocaust and on Poland and central Europe. 

Shechita 

April 2011: EJC Secretary General Serge Cwajgenbaum along with EJC Deputy Secretary General 

Raya Kalenova, Ariella Woitchik from the EJC Brussels office, and Shimon Cohen from the UK Board of 

Shechita met with Swedish MEP Schlyter in Brussels to discuss the ongoing issue of food-labeling with 

regards to Shechita, currently being debated in European Parliament . 


President Kantor received a letter from Dutch PM Rutte in response to his letter outlining the Jewish 

community’s concern over the upcoming legislation to be voted in Dutch parliament which could ban 

Shechita in Holland. 

News from communities 

France 

February 2011: Cwajgenbaum, EJC deputy Secretary General Raya Kalenova and Ariella Woitchik 

attend the annual CRIF dinner, presided over by CRIF President Richard Prasquier. Guest of honour 

was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one thousand people attended. 

March 2011: Cwajgenbaum met with Haim Musicant, CRIF director general, on ongoing situation in 

France after a poll showing far-right candidate Marine Le Pen (Front National leader) would receive 24 

percent of the vote and thus most probable candidate in the 2nd round in French presidential elections 

to take place in 2012. Also discussed fight 

against anti-Semitism in France. 

Great Britain 

February 2011: EJC President Moshe Kantor was in London for a meeting with the Board of Deputies 

leadership. He made a thorough presentation of EJC action in all political fields which was followed by 

an open discussion and future plan for full cooperation between EJC and the BoD. Kantor was 

accompanied by Serge Cwajgenbaum, Arie Zuckerman and Raya Kalenova. 

Switzerland 

Cwajgenbaum, Glikerman and Firsht met with Jonathan Kreutner, secretary general of the Swiss 

Federation of Jewish communities, in Paris. 

Luxembourg 

In Paris, Cwajgenbaum met with François Moyse, new president of the Jewish Community of 

Luxembourg, to discuss their common agenda. 

Romania 

April 2011: Cwajgenbaum in Bucharest addressed the General Assembly of the Federation of Jewish 

Communities of Romania which celebrated FEDROM’s 75th year of existence and the re-inauguration 

of the Coral Temple. The event was attended by Presidents of the Jewish Communities of Romania, by 

the members of FEDROM’s Board of Directors, public central and local authorities’ representatives in 

Romania, officials of other religious congregations, of other national minorities and personalities of the 

civil society. These events were followed by a show organized by JDC Romania, marking the 75 years 

of existence and 45 years of partnership between FEDROM and the JOINT, and the 63rd anniversary of 

the State of Israel. 


Austria 

April 2011: Cwajgenbaum in Vienna participated in a consultation meeting of the European Union 

Agency for Fundamental Rights devoted notably to an exchange of views on a forthcoming "Survey on 

discrimination and hate crime against Jews in selected EU Member States". 

JUNE TO DECEMBER 

JULY 

05.07.2011 Guild Hall, London Dr. Moshe Kantor, Raya Kalenova, and SC attended the 

meeting and gala dinner in celebration of the 250th 

anniversary of the Board of Deputees in London, 

addressed by the Prince of Wales 

18.07.2011 Zagreb, Croatia Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and former 

Croatian President Mesic in Zagreb, regarding the trial and 

acquittal of Konstantinos Plevris for his anti-Semitic work, 

Jews: the Whole Truth. Plevris case to be brought up at 

the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg 

20.07.2011 Paris office Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and Polish 

Ambassador to France Tomasz Orlowski. Discussed the 

issue of communal property restitution and private 

ownership, as well as planning a visit of the EJC President 

to Warsaw 

SEPTEMBER 

09.2011 Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and Serge Berdugo, 

Secretary General of Moroccan Jewish community 

09.2011 France Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and Haim Musikant, 

Director General of CRIF. 

14.09.2011 Paris Dinner and meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and 

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, newly elected President of 

Conference of European Rabbis 

09.2011 Paris Serge Cwajgenbaum met with Dominique Lunel 

16.09.2011 Paris Breakfast and meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and 

Nimrod Barkan, Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO and to the 

Council of Europe, and Tsvi Itzkovitch 

09.2011 France Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and Marek Halter, 

French-Jewish intellectual and writer 


OCTOBER 

10.2011 Minsk, Belarus Serge Cwajgenbaum accompanied Chief Rabbi of the 

Ukraine, Rabbi Jacob Bleich 

27.10.2011 Turkish Embassy, 

Paris 

Meeting between Serge Cwajgenbaum and Tahsin 

Burcuoglu, Turkish Ambassador to France, regarding an 

exchange on the current situation in the Middle East, and 

to discuss an EJC delegation visit to Ankara 

25.10.2011 Moscow EJC President Moshe Kantor led a delegation composed of 

EJC Executive members to meet with Dmitry Medvedev, 

President of Russia 

NOVEMBER 

23.11.2011 European 

Parliament, 

Brussels 

Meeting with President of S&D Group, MEP Martin Schulz 

(future president of the EP) to discuss the International 

Holocaust Remembrance Day and future relations with 

EJC 


Parliament, 

Brussels 

37 th Inter-parliamentary meeting between the EU-Israel 

delegation and 4 members of the Knesset (Nachman 

Shai, Anastasia Michaelli, Daniel Ben Simon, etc). 

The meeting was followed by a dinner hosted by MEP 

Bastiaan Belder. Raya Kalenova and Ariella Woitchik 

attended. 

28.11.2011 Brussels Personal meeting of Raya Kalenova with Ambassador of 

Israel to the EU, Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman 

29.11.2011 Brussels Personal meeting of Raya Kalenova and Ariella Woitchik 

with Paulo Casaca, former MEP 

23.11.2011 Brussels Serge Cwajgenbaum and Raya Kalenova met with Martin 

Schultz, President of the Socialist Group at the European 

Parliament and future President of the European 

Parliament, to be elected in January 2012 

11.2011 UNESCO Serge Cwajgenbaum met with representatives of Jewish 

organizations at UNESCO, to discuss a seminar on Yiddish 

culture 

22.11.2011 Hôtel de 

Hirsch, 

Diplomatic 

Section of the 

République 

Française, Paris 

Serge Cwajgenbaum met with Jean-David Levitte, 

Diplomatic Advisor to the French President of the 

Republic Nicolas Sarkozy 

22.11.2011 Le Centre Serge Cwajgenbaum gave a lecture at a conference at 


Mondial du 

Judaïsme Nord 

Africain in 

Marseille 

the Centre Mondial du Judaïsme Nord Africain, on the 

topic of the geopolitical situation of Mediterranean Jewish 

communities 

11.2011 Paris Serge Cwajgenbaum met with Olivier Stirn, Advisor to 

the French President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy and 

former Minister of several governments 

DECEMBER 

01.12.2011 EJC Office, 

Brussels 

01.12.2011 Konrad- 

Adenauer- 

Stiftung 

European Office 

Shechita meeting 

Raya Kalenova attended the Roundtable on "Israeli, 

Turkish and Egyptian relations within the Middle East 

arena, against the backdrop of developments in 

Iran" with H.E. Ambassador Reuven Merhav. 

05-06.12.2011 Florence, EUI Meeting with President and SG of EUI in Florence to 

discuss the project for the Institute on Secured Tolerance 

and the model framework law on limited tolerance. 


Parliament, 

Brussels 

Meeting with Friedrich Bokern and Richard Freedman 

from President Buzek cabinet to discuss the International 

Holocaust Remembrance Day event 

09.12.2011 Council of the 

European 

Union, Brussels 

Meeting with Maciej Popowski, Deputy Secretary General 

of the European External Action Service, Council of the 

European Union 

19.12.2011 Brussels Office Chanukah Drinks with representatives of European 

Parliament, European Commission, European Council 

and Israeli Embassy 


Parliament, 

Brussels 

Meeting with Armin Machmer, Press Officer from Martin 

Schulz’s office and with Martin Schulz’s assistant 

concerning the IHRD on 24th January 

1.12.2011 Brussels office The European Jewish Congress held a meeting with 

Jewish experts and representatives of communities 

regarding the issue of Shehita 


2.12.2011 Rothschild 

Foundation, 

Paris 

8.12.2011- Strasbourg 

9.12.2011 

Serge Cwajgenbaum attended the funeral service of the 

late Henry Bulawko, eminent French-Jewish figure 

Serge Cwajgenbaum attended Council of Europe session 

19.12.2011 Paris Serge Cwajgenbaum met with Sam Pisar, international 

lawyer, Jewish survivor, and author 

20.12.2011 Conference call 

from Paris 

office 

Moshe Kantor and EJC members conducted telephone 

conference 

22.12.2011 Brussels Serge Cwajgenbaum and Raya Kalenova met with French 

Ambassador to the European Union Philippe Etienne 

12.2011 Moshe Kantor, accompanied by Serge Cwajgenbaum and 

Raya Kalenova, met with the Secretary General of the 

Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland and President of the 

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean- 

Claude Mignon 


WJC-ISRAEL REPORT 


January-February 

Diker addressed the Knesset Committee of Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs relating to the 

growing support of Latin American countries in the recognition of a Palestinian state and the 

unilateral move to achieve such recognition in the UN in September. 

Diker was interviewed by IBA News, Israel’s English news channel, to discuss the growing support 

of Latin American countries in the recognition of a Palestinian state and the unilateral move to 

achieve such recognition in the UN in September. 

WJC-Israel partnered with the World Jewish Diplomatic Corps to hold a dinner event for European 

Parliament parliamentarian assistants visiting Israel as part of a conference of European Friends of 

Israel (EFI). The keynote speaker at the event was Dr. Harold Rhode (30 year veteran of the 

Pentagon and expert in Middle East Affairs). 

WJC-Israel Chair MK Shai Hermesh and Diker convened an Executive Board meeting to present 

and discuss the annual budget and strategic plan for WJC-Israel for 2011. The plan reflected a 

WJC-Israel that would be re-energized as a bridge between Israel and the nearly 100 Jewish 

communities that the WJC represents around the world. 

Specifically and among other things, it was presented that WJC-Israel seeks to brand itself as the 

leading voice in Israel representing vital interests of the Jewish community in Israel within the 

following priority areas that also reflect the top priorities of WJC global objectives: 

1. Combating the assault on the legitimacy of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people 

2. Launching and promoting a public campaign on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Jews 

who suffered ethnic cleansing in Arab lands following the establishment of the State of 

Israel and continuing into the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s 

3. Building our ongoing relationship with the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and the 600 

million evangelical Christians around the world. 

4. Production of an international consultation of the International Council of Jewish 

Parliamentarians (ICJP) in Jerusalem and to creating a network of Jewish 

parliamentarians from around the world that will serve as an ongoing platform for 

communication and cooperation in sharing information and advancing interests for Jewish 

communities around the world. 

WJC-Israel held a dinner event with Professor Bernard Lewis, one of the world’s leading 

authorities on Islam and the near east. The dinner event was hosted by Hermesh, and Diker. The 

dinner discussion was part of a special event for the WJC-Israel Executive and other select guests 

including Members of Knesset, and leading experts on Islam and the Middle East. 

WJC-ISREAL REPORT: PAGE 1 OF 6

March-April 

Hermesh and Diker met with Josh Reinstein from the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus to discuss 

and plan for the advancement of the relationship between Israel and the evangelical Christian 

communities around the world. 

Diker also held meetings with Itzik Shmueli, Chairman of the Federation of Students in Israel and 

Helena Glazer, President of WIZO and member of the WJC Executive. 

Diker had several media appearances, including IBA News, Close Up, Turkish television and the 

publication of an article in the Jerusalem Post relating to the assault on Israel’s legitimacy. 

Hermesh participated in a delegation of WJC leadership to South America and met with Colombian 

President Santos and other leaders in the region as well as more than 50 leaders of the Jewish 

community in the region from 13 South American countries. Among the topics discussed was the 

growing support of Latin American countries in the recognition of a Palestinian state and the 

unilateral move to achieve such recognition in the UN in September, the Arab revolutions and the 

growing threat of a nuclear Iran. 

May-June 

Hermesh and Diker convened a WJC-Israel Executive Board meeting and hosted a special diner 

with Ambassador Alan Baker who spoke about the legal and policy implications of UDI. 

WJC Israel convened a meeting of the Executive Committee. 

The Assault on Israel’s Legitimacy 

Dan Diker spoke at a conference at the Italian Chamber of Deputies organized by the foreign 

affairs think-tank SUMMIT by Italian Member of Parliament Fiamma Nirenstein, co-sponsored by 

the WJC and attended by senior Italian government officials and parliamentarians. Diker urged 

European countries to oppose the planned endorsement by the UN of a unilaterally declared 

Palestinian state. 

Diker met with WJC Senior Consultant on Middle East Affairs, Pinhas Inbari, and Yosef 

Kuperwasser, Director General of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, to discuss the upcoming 

unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood at the UN. Diker and Amb. Alan Baker, one of the 

legal architects of the Oslo Accords, held a briefing and a discussion on the legal aspect of the 

Palestinian unilateral bid for statehood at the United Nations (UDI) with the members of the 

National Union party at the Knesset. Diker was also interviewed by the International Christian 

Embassy in Jerusalem on UDI and featured on its radio broadcast. 

Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries 

Diker, Grundwerg and Edna Weinstock-Gabay met with Stanley Urman, Executive Director of 

Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, and Rabbi Eli Abadi to discuss the issue of Jewish refugees 

from Arab lands. 


Other 

Diker, Grundwerg and Weinstock-Gabay met with WUJS Director Oliver Worth to discuss future 

cooperation. 

July 

Knesset 

Dan Diker and Grundwerg attended the Knesset Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Committee 

meeting which hosted U.S. TV and radio personality Glenn Beck. 

August 


Dan Diker and WJC-North America Executive Director, Betty Ehrenberg, met with Stanley Urman, 

Executive Director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries on WJC’s increasing role in the issue of 

Jewish refugees from Arab lands. 

September 


Dan Diker convened a meeting of the WJC Israel Executive Committee to consult on the WJC 

campaign against the Palestinian Unilateral Declaration of statehood at the UN (UDI). In addition, 

Diker conducted a telephone briefing for the WJC Executive Committee on the subject. He met 

with Moshe 'Bogi' Ya'alon, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, and Yossi Kuperwasser, Director 

General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, to discuss the UDI. Diker published an op-ed in the 

Jerusalem Post together with Amb. Alan Baker on the subject of the Palestinian unilateral 

declaration of statehood at the UN. 

The World Jewish Congress published the book “Israel’s Rights as the Nation-State in International 

Diplomacy”. Diker appeared on the Knesset news channel and on IBA news and discussed the 

subject of Israel's rights and the work of the WJC. 

Knesset 

Diker met with the leader of the Israeli coalition, MK Zeev Elkin, to discuss the WJC-JCPA 

coproduced book “Israel's Rights as a Nation-State in International Diplomacy”. 

DD met with Shmuel Letko, Director of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, to 

discuss the WJC-JCPA coproduced book “Israel's Rights as a Nation-State in International 

Diplomacy”. 



Diker, Grundwerg, Weinstock-Gabay, Laurence Weinbaum, and Daniel Chertoff met with Mr. Adi 

Schwartz, journalist and author, to discuss the issue of the Jewish refugees from Arab lands. 

Other 

Diker and Grundwerg met with Dr. Laurence Weinbaum and the Board of Directors of the WJC 

Research Institute. 

Grundwerg, Julie Feinberg, John Malkinson, Michael Thaidigsmann and Morgan Meldrum 

participated in the Israel MFA New Media seminar in Brussels. 

October 

WJC Israel convened a meeting of its Executive Committee. 


Diker and Grundwerg attended a half-day seminar on de-legitimization jointly hosted by the Prime 

Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. 


Diker convened a video conference with Dr. Stanley Urman, Executive Vice-President of Justice for 

Jews from Arab Countries, regarding the issue of the Jewish refugees from Arab Cands; Betty 

Ehrenberg, Grundwerg, Michael Schneider, Laurence Weinbaum, and Edna Weinstock-Gabay also 

participated. 

Interfaith Initiatives 

Diker and Grundwerg met with Josh Reinstein of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. 

Knesset 

Diker met with MK Shaul Mofaz, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. 

Other 

Diker and Grundwerg met with Gad Naschitz to discuss cooperation with Israeli honorary consuls. 

Diker and Grundwerg met with Eli Groner, Israel’s economic attaché in Washington DC. 

Diker and WJC Middle Eastern Affairs Advisor Pinhas Inbari met with the Egyptian Ambassador to 

Israel. 


November 


Diker appeared on CCTV’s program World Insight (China) and debated with Palestinian activist 

Moustafa Barghouti. 

Diker appeared on IBA News and spoke about UNESCO’s admission of the Palestinian Authority as 

a permanent member of the organization. 

Diker spoke to the members of the World Likud organization on a panel that included MK Danny 

Danon and Dr. Mordechai Kedar, and emphasized the importance of insisting on Israel’s rights as 

a nation-state and their role in Hasbara. 


Diker, Grundwerg, Laurence Weinbaum, Edna Weinstock-Gabay and Daniel Chertoff met with Eran 

Lerman, Deputy Head of Israel’s National Security Council, to discuss cooperation on the issue of 

Jewish refugees from Arab lands. 

Interfaith Initiatives 

Diker and Grundwerg met with Josh Reinstein of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus to discuss 

avenues of future cooperation. 

Knesset 

Diker and Grundwerg met with MK Einat Wilf. 

Other 

In Johannesburg and Cape Town, Diker participated in several gatherings of the Jewish 

community in South Africa; Diker spoke at the meeting of the Johannesburg communal 

leadership; was keynote speaker at the Gala Event of the Cape Conference 2011 and panelist at 

the Conference’s panel on post-Apartheid South Africa; Diker addressed the issues of the assault 

on Israel’s rights and legitimacy, the Palestinian unilateral bid for statehood, and the importance 

of the South African Jewish community to Israel and world Jewry. 

Diker met with Ayala Sherman of the Tikva Foundation; met with Prof. Martin Sherman, author of 

the book “The Politics of Water in the Middle East”; met with Tommy Steiner at the 

Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya to discuss plans for the 2012 Herzliya Conference. 

December 


Dan Diker and Sam Grundwerg met with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs, Amb. Rafi Barak, to discuss the distribution of the joint WJC policy book “Israel’s Rights as 


a Nation-State in International Diplomacy”; Amb Barak thanked and praised the WJC for the 

production of the book and said that it would be distributed to Israeli Foreign Ministry 

representatives across the world and made mandatory reading material at the MFA young 

diplomats course. 

Diker was interviewed on the subject of Israel’s rights and WJC activities on the Daystar television 

network, which commands a viewership of 40 million. 


Edna Weinstock-Gabay and Julie Feinberg met with Orly Rachminian of the Israeli Ministry for 

Senior Citizens regarding the issue of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries. 

Other 

Grundwerg, Weinstock-Gabay and Feinberg met with Giuseppe Platania, CEO of La Adan 

International. 


WJC Latin America 


JANUARY 

Buenos Aires 

LAJC launched a new program to combat anti-Semitism on the Web, 

Observatorio Web (www.observatorioweb.org) which had widespread media 

coverage and made a major impact on Argentinean society. The program is 

carried out in collaboration with DAIA and AMIA. 

Montevideo 

A group of Uruguayan parliamentarians traveled on an official mission to Iran, Lebanon, Kuwait, Arab 

Emirates and Bahrain. In Teheran, the president of the House of Representatives met with President 

Ahmadinejad and several other ministers. The LAJC, together with the Comité Central Israelita from 

Uruguay, sent a letter to each member of the delegation explaining that high senior officials of the 

current Iranian government had been accused of participating in the AMIA terrorist attack, and 

requesting they demand that the Iranian government surrender these people. 

Bahia Blanca 

New anti-Semitic graffiti appeared in front of a Chabad Lubavitch synagogue 

in Bahia Blanca, a city 700km south of Buenos Aires. 

Rio de Janeiro 

The Jewish community of Brazil supported the survivors of the tragic floods and mudslides which 

killed over 700 victims in the Rio de Janeiro area. 

Brussels 

Claudio Epelman participated in the WJC executive directors meeting that took place in Brussels, 

along with Ronald S. Lauder, Michael Schneider and Dan Diker. 

Buenos Aires 

LAJC launched the video “Holocaust Denial is Anti-Semitism” on 

Youtube to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance 

Day. The video has had over 22,000 viewers. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsgv5o5a5c 

Porto Alegre 

On January 27th, the president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff headed the ceremony of the Holocaust 

Remembrance Day, in the city of Porto Alegre. Jack Terpins, Claudio Lottenberg (president of the 

Brazilian community) and Marcos Israel (president of the Uruguayan community) together with 

WJC LATIN AMERICA REPORT: PAGE 1 OF 16

Claudio Epelman attended the ceremony. The media, as well as 

Lottenberg, remarked on the new approach of Rousseff´s 

administration towards Iran. In a public speech, Rousseff clearly 

expressed that she will fight for Human Rights regardless of the 

consequences. Before the public ceremony, Terpins and Lottemberg 

held a private meeting with Rousseff. 

Sao Paulo 

Jack Terpins, Claudio Epelman and Marcos Israel, president of the Uruguayan community, met with 

Clara Ant, adviser to former Brazilian president Lula Da Silva. 

FEBRUARY 

Lima 

The summit of presidents of the Arab League and the South American countries originally scheduled 

for mid-February in Peru, was postponed due to the situation in Egypt. 

Buenos Aires 

Epelman met Daniel Gazit, Israel Ambassador to Argentina, to coordinate activities regarding the 

implications of the recognition of several Latin-American countries of a Palestinian State, and 

programs to strengthen Israel´s image. 

Epelman met with Ariel Seidler, Director of Observatorio Web, Alejnadro Resnik and Rodirgo 

Luchinsky to discuss potential legal actions against sites that promote discrimination on the Internet. 

Jack Terpins participated in Buenos Aires of a brief on the Iranian penetration in the region presented 

by Ambassador Roger Noriega, former US Assistant Secretary of State. Enrique Chirom and Claudio 

Epelman (LAJC), Daniel Gazit (Ambassador of Israel to Argentina), Aldo Donzis and Fabian Galante 

(DAIA), and a selected group of New Generations ´members also participated in the event 

Sao Paulo 

Jack Terpins and Claudio Epelman met with the President of Hebraica Sao Paulo, Arthur Rotemberg, 

and Israel's Consul in Sao Paulo, Ilan Sztulman. 

Buenos Aires 

The LAJC launched a project to defend the image of Israel on 

the Internet, called Israel 2.0. This new endeavor will be 

developed in collaboration with various community 

organizations. Initially the work will be done with 

organizations in Argentina, with the idea of expanding it 

throughout the region. 


MARCH 

Sao Paulo 

Jack Terpins and Claudio Lottenberg, met with the Vice President of Brazil, Michel Temer, in 

preparation of the LACJ meeting. The meeting was a good opportunity to discuss several issues of 

Brazilian politics. 

Paris 

Epelman joined the WJC team that participated in the International Catholic 

Jewish Liaison Committee Meeting, held in Paris, with participants of both 

religions. The LACJ participated as a counterpart of the Conference of Latin 

American Bishops, CELAM. 

Madrid 

Maram Stern and Claudio Epelman met in Madrid with Bahige Mulla, senior member of the Islamic 

Word League, to explore new ways of dialogue with Islam. 

Buenos Aires 

Epelman met with Thiago Melamed, chief of staff of the Embassy of Brazil in Argentina, and Alberto 

Kleiman, an advisor to the presidency of the Republic of Brazil. 

Buenos Aires 

LACJ organized the formal kick off of its new program, New 

Generations, developed to find, engage, nurture and help develop the 

next generation of community leaders. A group of young professionals 

held a private meeting with 3 senior officials of the government. 

Lima 

The summit of presidents of South America and the Arab League, which had been postponed until 

April, was postponed again until September at the request of the Arab League because of the crisis 

in Libya. 

San Jose 

A Civil Society Forum for Peace in the Middle East took place in Costa Rica with representatives of 

Israel, various Arab countries and several community leaders; many defamatory expressions were 

heard at this forum against the State of Israel. 

Montevideo 

The New Generations project was launched in Uruguay with the 

participation of the Ambassador of Israel to Uruguay, Dori Goren, the 

president of the Jewish Central Committee, Marcos Israel, and the 

Program Director, Valeria Grimberg. 

Buenos Aires 

March 17 marked another anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Embassy of Israel in Buenos 

Aires, 1992 when a car bomb killed 29 people. 


Sao Paulo 

Jack Terpins met in Sao Paulo with Claudio Epelman to finalize preparations for the next LACJ 

meeting held on 27 and 28 of March in Brazil. 

Buenos Aires 

Claudio Epelman met with the prosecutor of the AMIA case, Dr. Alberto Nisman. 

Sao Paulo 

The LACJ conducted its Annual Meeting in Brazil. Participants of the event 

included 80 leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa 

Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and 

Venezuela. The meeting was also attended by Ronald S. Lauder, Shai 

Hermesh, Dan Diker, Maram Stern and Sara Winkowski, as members of a 

WJC mission to the region. 

This gathering was an opportunity to 

discuss some of the major challenges 

faced by the Jewish communities of 

Latin-American and the State of Israel. 

Sessions included topics such as the 

changes in the Middle East, the 

recognition of a Palestinian State by the 

countries of the region, the challenges 

faced by small communities, the inclusion of teaching about the Shoah in the school curricula, and 

the work done by the communities on behalf of the State of Israel. 

Bogota 

At the conclusion of the LACJ Annual Meeting in Brazil, 

Lauder, Terpins, Elsztain, Hermesh, Diker, Stern and 

Epelman traveled to Bogota where they joined Ronald 

Bakalarz, Vice-President of the LACJ, in a meeting with the 

leadership of the local Jewish community. This trip was also 

an opportunity to meet with President of Colombia, Juan 

Manuel Santos Calderon, to commemorate Mr. Santo´s 

friendship with the Jewish people and the state of Israel. 

Colombia is the only country in South America that hadn´t 

recognized a Palestinian State, outside the framework of a 

peace agreement and in accordance with UN resolutions. 

APRIL 

Rio de Janeiro 

Jack Terpins participated in Rio de Janeiro's tribute to Judge Luis Fux, the first Jew to become 

Minister of the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil. 


Brasilia 

Terpins participated in the meeting held at the Embassy of Israel with the evangelical caucus of the 

Brazilian parliament, in support of that State of Israel. 

Buenos Aires 

LACJ organized, jointly with the Foreign 

Ministry of Israel, a diplomatic seminar for 

young professionals which was attended by 

over 45 people of the region. Among the 

speakers were officials of the Foreign Ministry 

and the Embassy of Israel in Argentina, the 

Jewish Agency´s Chairman, Natan Sharansky, 

the president of AMIA and DAIA, the 

prosecutor of the AMIA case and Members of several regional Parliaments. 

A private meeting was held as part of the seminar, between the Members of the Parliamentary 

Committees of Friendship with Israel from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, where it was 

agreed that their activities needed to be coordinated and strengthen. 

MAY 

Jerusalem 

Jack Terpins participated in Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations in Israel. 

Buenos Aires 

The Buenos Aires office´s staff participated in various events to celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut. 

LAJC participated at the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI. 

As part of the work carried out by LACJ´s Observatorio Web 

(www.observatorioweb.org), a Civil Court in Buenos Aires ordered 

Google to drop certain suggested searches in their web browser 

leading to discrimination, to remove from the index certain sites 

which contained hate and anti-Semitic speech, and to refrain from 

putting ads on those sites from which Google was making a profit. 

A rabbi of an orthodox congregation was attacked with a martial arts weapon, nunchaku, while being 

abused as a “Jew”. The attacker was arrested and later sent to a Neuropsychiatric Institute. 

Epelman participated in an opening session of the University Di Tella, in the presence of Colombian 

Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holgin. 

Members of New Generations: the group of young 

professionals from Buenos Aires met Marcos Peña, 

Secretary General of the Government of the City of Buenos 

Aires to reflect on "The role of youth in politics." 


Claudio Epelman met with the Ambassador of Israel in Argentina, Daniel Gazit, and with 

Congressman Claudio Presman to discuss the distribution of invitations and follow up with 

Argentinean Parliamentarians invited to the ICJP. 

Caracas 

Héctor Timerman, Argentine Foreign Minister met with CAIV to 

strengthen the role of government in the dialogue between the 

community and the government of President Chávez. 

Sao Paulo 

New Generations´s members met with Floriano Pesaro, 

Municipal Senator, to discuss "The balance between political life 

and Jewish life." 

Montevideo 

New Generation’s members met with Rafael Michelini 

(Senator), Ope Pasquet (Senator) and Ruperto Long (Minister 

of Auditors) to discuss "Israel´s political vision as seen from 

Uruguay.” 

JUNE 

Sao Paulo 

Jack Terpins met, with Jose Maria Aznar, Bill Clinton and 

Michael Bloomberg. 

Claudio Epelman joined Jack Terpins at the annual dinner of 

the Jewish Fund of Brazil. They also held a private meeting 

with Clara Ant, adviser to the former Brazilian President, Lula 

Da Silva. 

Asunción 

Veronica Machtey, together with the leaders of the local Jewish 

community met with a group of 10 Parliamentarians to assess 

the influence of Iran in the region and organize a conference to 

be held in the local Congress by the prosecutor of the AMIA 

case, Dr. Alberto Nisman. 


Buenos Aires 

LAJC executive director Claudio Epelman, together with AMIA´s leadership, met Jesica Echeverria, 

Bolivian Parliamentarian, who expressed a strong objection to Iranian minister Ahmad Vahidi´s visit 

to her country. 

Ariel Seidler, Director of LAJC´s Observatorio Web Program, met with the leaders of the Bolivian 

community in Argentina to discuss the work carried out by the LAJC to combat all forms of 

discrimination on the Internet. The Bolivian community in Argentina is the target of a lot of prejudice 

from society. 

The LAJC launched an internet campaign in commemoration of the 

anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA building 

http://www.signforjustice.org. The campaign was championed by 

several members of the New Generations program. 

Montevideo 

Saul Gilvich met with Former President Luis Alberto Lacalle in preparation for his participation at the 

WJC Governing Board in Jerusalem. 

Israel 

A group of 10 parliamentarians from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, 

Uruguay, Costa Rica and Colombia participated of the 

International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians meeting in 

Israel. 

A Latin-American delegation, headed by Jack Terpins, 

president of the LAJC, participated in the meeting of the WJC 

Governing Board in Israel. Before the GB they held meetings 

with former President of Uruguay Luis Alberto Lacalle and 

former President of Peru Alejandro Toledo. 

Ariel Seidler attended the seminar "How to fight anti-Semitism on the Web" organized by the 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel in Jerusalem. 


JULY 

Buenos Aires 

The LAJC organized the "5 th Meeting of Latin American 

Parliamentarians," which was held to coincide with the 

anniversary of the Jewish Community Center - AMIA terrorist 

attack. 

The meeting gathered 40 Parliamentarians from Argentina, 

Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and 

Venezuela, who honored the victims, demanded justice and 

addressed the challenges of terrorism with a regional focus. 

The group heard from relatives of the victims and survivors of this terrorist attack, from the Office of 

the Special Investigation Unit of the AMIA case, and from Terrorism expert Meir Javedanfar who 

talked about terrorist networks in Latin America. Parliamentarians also participated, along with 

community leaders of their countries, in the official commemoration in remembrance of the victims 

of the attack. Following the commemoration they entered the reconstructed building to sign a 

statement committing themselves to the fight against terrorism. The meeting concluded with a lunch 

at Argentina's Foreign Ministry, hosted by Jack Terpins and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman. 

More than 150 parliamentarians from 10 countries of Latin 

America have already participated in the annual meeting of 

Latin American Parliamentarians. 

A group of New Generation´s members from 8 different 

communities of Latin America attended a seminar with experts 

to evaluate different scenarios towards a unilateral declaration 

of Palestinian independence. The 25 young participants,later 

prepared a document with recommendations for the LAJC and 

the local communities on this issue. 

Epelman spoke to the Hasbara group "Shagriria", on Jewish Diplomacy. 

Montevideo 

Saul Gilvich, Secretary General of the LAJC, together with Claudio Epelman met the president of the 

Comité Central Israelita del Uruguay, Marcos Israel. 

The New Generations group of Uruguay held a meeting with Claudio Epelman on "The LAJC´s 

diplomatic dimension and the regional political agenda”. 

In a public ceremony in Montevideo Iran's ambassador to Uruguay, Hojjatollah Soltani, questioned 

that the Holocaust happened, as frequently done by Ahmadinejad. The LAJC together with the 

Comite Central Israelita del Uruguay (the Jewish community) carried out various actions until the 

Uruguayan government finally condemned the declarations. 


Sao Paulo 

Valeria Grimberg, Director of LAJC´s New Generations Program, coordinated an activity in Sao Paulo 

with Dr. Margarette Barreto, government official working on hate crimes. 

Jack Terpins participated in the New Generations’ meeting with the 

local Archbishop, Dom Odilo Scherer, in Sao Paulo. They talked 

about different topics of interest to both religions. Rabbi Michel 

Schlesinger and Javier Mutal, young professional of Argentina, also 

participated in the meeting. 

AUGUST 

Asunción (Paraguay) 

Claudio Epelman met with the Jewish Community and participated 

in the opening of the exhibition "Visados para la Libertad" (Visas for 

Freedom), which was displayed in a shopping mall in Asunción. The 

LAJC sponsored the exhibition. 

Buenos Aires 

Epelman met Artemio Barrios, Paraguayan parliamentarian and member of the Parliamentary Group 

of Friends of Israel of Paraguay. 

Members of the New Generations program participated on a panel at the Ecumenical Social Forum, a 

special activity for young people. 

Claudio Epelman participated in the IV International Symposium on 

Jewish-Christian dialogue, together with Secretary of Worship 

Guillermo Oliveri, DAIA President Aldo Donzis, Monsignor Malfa, and 

leaders of the Focolare Movement. 

Jerusalem 

Jack Terpins met Prime Minister Netanyahu, during his visit to Israel. 

Montevideo 

The House of Representatives of Uruguay adopted a statement in 

solidarity with AMIA, supporting the claim of Justice. It was presented by 

Chamber President Luis Lacalle Pou, in coordination with the LAJC. 

Gilvich and Epelman spoke on interfaith dialogue in Latin America to 35 rabbis, members of the Latin 

American Rabbinical Assembly. 


WJC Vice President Sara Winkowski, LAJC Secretary-General 

Saúl Gilvich, LAJC executive director Claudio Epelman, and 

members of New Generations Alejandro Donzis (Argentina) 

and Shai Abend (Uruguay) met Enrique Iglesias, secretarygeneral 

of the Ibero-American Cooperation Secretariat 

(SEGIB). The aim of the meeting was to strengthen the 

relationship between LAJC and SEGIB and to enable LAJC 

participation at the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of 

State and Government that will take place next October in Paraguay. 

LAJC secretary-general Saúl Gilvich, together with Claudio Epelman, held a meeting with Luis Lacalle 

Pou, President of the Chamber of Deputies, to talk about UDI and the Iranian presence in Uruguay. 

They also participated in the reception for Minister Yossi Peled, at the ambassador's house and met 

Dorit Shavit, Director for Latin America at the Foreign Ministry of Israel with whom they talked about 

working with Friends of Israel parliamentarians and about cooperation with the Jewish community of 

Paraguay. 

The local group of New Generations held an event on "Media coverage of the Middle East" with José 

Luis Martínez, editor of the international information of the La República newspaper and with Fernán 

Cisnero, editor of a supplement of the El País newspaper. 

Santiago de Chile 

The president of a Teachers' College, Jaime Gajardo, said that the religious origin of the Minister of 

Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter (Jewish), explained the government actions, and especially those of the 

police forces, against student demonstrations. "We mean that if Hinzpeter has any training at any 

school in Israel, because here they are repeating the same methods to put down the youth and 

students demonstrations that fight for public education in Chile, as Israel used during the Palestinian 

apartheid". The Government, the Jewish Community and the LAJC condemned Gajardo's statement. 

Sao Paulo 

The New Generations group met with Mr. Flávio Rassekh, 

filmmaker and activist for human rights, of Iranian 

parentage and leader of the Bahá'í community in Brazil 

(which has more than 57,000 members). He is also one of 

the main experts on Iran in Brazil. 

The NG group also met Prof. Uzi Rabi, Chair of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History 

of Tel Aviv University. 

SEPTEMBER 

Buenos Aires 

The LAJC together with DAIA and AMIA, worked with 

Argentinean MPs in order to promote an Argentinean 

declaration against UDI. This was the aim of a breakfast 

held at DAIA which was promoted by the LAJC, and in which 


Claudio Epelman, Verónica Machtey and David Pattin (of New Generations) participated. 

Epelman met with José Ottavis and Sergio Chodos, members of the political group La Cámpora 

(founded by Maximo Kirchner, son of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) and with Alejo 

Ramírez, from the Ibero-American Youth Organization, together with Valeria Grimberg and Verónica 

Machtey. 

Verónica Machtey met Deputy Cynthia Hotton, to talk about relations with the Evangelical community 

in Argentina; with Hilary Krieger from the Jerusalem Post; and with AMIA case prosecutor Alberto 

Nisman. 

Pablo Gabe and Gabriel Buznick, from New Generations 

participated in the commemoration of the 175th 

anniversary of the presence of the Evangelical Methodist 

Church in Argentina. 

The Observatorio Web gave a virtual course on discrimination on the Internet, with more than 90 

participants. The seven classes dealth with Internet content, discrimination on the Web, political and 

legal issues and possible actions in this regard. 

Claudio Epelman and Ariel Seidler met Pedro Mouratian, Director of the Government office against 

discrimination, about Observatorio Web. 

LAJC president Jack Terpins and LAJC secretary-general 

Saul Gilvich participated in the AMIA Annual Dinner, 

together with Claudio Epelman, Valeria Grimberg and 

Verónica Machtey. 

The LAJC held a breakfast to celebrate Rosh Hashana with 

more than 20 Jewish government officials, 

parliamentarians and judges. Chairman of the WJC 

Governing Board Eduardo Elsztain and LAJC treasurer 

Enrique Chirom attended the event. 

The New Generations group held a meeting with Jack 

Terpins and Saúl Gilvich, on the LAJC activities and the 

situation in Latin America. 

Sao Paulo 

The New Generations group held a meeting with Heni Ozi Cukier and Guilherme Casarões, both 

professors of International Relations, on "Israel-Palestine relations and the international community's 

role in this context." 


Washington and New York 

LAJC President Jack Terpins, together with WJC leadership, met 

the ICJP which was meeting in NY to discuss the PA's unilateral 

statehood bid. Floriano Pesaro of the Sao Paulo Municipal 

Council in Brazil was also present at the meeting. 

OCTOBER 

Asunción 

Pablo Gabe, of New Generations Argentina, attended the Ibero- 

American Meeting of Religious Leaders, held in the framework of the 

Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State. 

Melina Rozenbaum, also of New Generations Argentina, participated in 

the Ibero-American Civic Meeting, representing the LAJC, where she 

met with Alejo Ramirez, from the Ibero-American Youth Organization. 

Brasilia 

LAJC president Jack Terpins and CONIB (Brazilian Jewish 

Community) president Claudio Lottenberg met with 

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff greeted the 

Brazilian Jewish community on the New Year and talked 

about the current political situation in the Middle East, 

she stressed that an independent Palestinian state can 

only exist alongside an Israeli state with secure borders. 

Terpins and Lottenberg also met vice president Michel 

Temer. 

Buenos Aires 

Claudio Epelman met Juan Bitelli and Thiago Melamed, Minister and Secretary of the Brazilian 

embassy in Argentina, to talk about an activity on discrimination on the Internet. 

Epelman, together with DAIA and AMIA directors and the coordinator of the Observatorio Web 

program, held a meeting with Alberto Arebalos, director of Google for global communications & 

public affairs, Latin America. 

Gabriel Buznick and Alejandro Kelman from New 

Generations, participated of the meeting of 

commemoration of the World Day of Prayer for Peace of 

1986 in Assisi, by Pope John Paul II. Buznick also 

participated in the meeting of the Jewish-Christian 

Fraternity. 


Doha, Qatar 

LAJC director Claudio Epelman participated in the 9th Doha 

Conference on Interfaith Dialogue; Rabbi Henry Sobel also 

participated in the conference, and gave a speech at the 

opening session. 

Guatemala 

Karen Sass, of New Generations Uruguay, participated in the 

Young Letter meeting, an Ibero-American meeting of young 

people organized by the Ibero-American Youth Organization. 

Montevideo 

The New Generations group held a private meeting with Dr. 

Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou, president of the House of 

Representatives. 

Sao Paulo 

The New Generations group of Sao Paulo (Brazil) held a meeting with journalist Mônica Waldvogel, 

who shared with them her experience as a famous journalist and also about her trip to Israel some 

years ago with the Jewish Community. 

NOVEMBER 

Brussels 

Claudio Epelman participated in the meeting of the WJC 

Executive Committee and the WJC Regional Affiliate directors 

in Brussels. He met Ronald Lauder, Dan Diker, Maram Stern 

and Moshe Kantor and attended a dinner with Israeli 

Ambassador to the EU and NATO, Yaakov Hadas Handelsman. 

Buenos Aires 

A letter of condolence was sent to the Archbishopric of Argentina and to the Moron bishop following 

the passing away of Monsignor Laguna, a great promoter of Jewish–Catholic dialogue. 

Epelman participated in a panel on Interfaith Dialogue at Belgrano University, and talked about the 

role of religions in the processes to achieve peace. 

Matías Kulfas, director of the National Bank of Argentina and Sergio Chodos, director of the Central 

Bank of Argentina met with Claudio Epelman, Valeria Grimberg and Javier Mutal (of New 

Generations) on join activities. 

Verónica Machtey and Natalia Krañasky met Dr. Jacek Kastelaniec, Director of the Auschwitz- 

Birkenau Foundation and staff of the Polish embassy in Argentina. 


Ariel Seidler gave a lecture on anti-Semitism on the Internet at the seminar "Confronting anti- 

Semitism", organized by World Zionist Organization. 

New Generations members Elisa Trotta, Leila Goldcher, 

Víctor Estrugo Rottenstein, David Pattin, Pablo 

Escandarani, Uriel Aiskovich, Gabriel Buznick, Valeria 

Grimberg and Verónica Machtey participated in the 

meeting of the Jewish Agency Governing Board in Buenos 

Aires, where they met with Natan Sharansky, president of 

the Jewish Agency. 

Epelman participated in a seminar organized by the JDC for executive directors of LATAM, and met 

Mauricio Lulka, director of the Mexican Community (Comité Central de la Comunidad Judía de 

México) and Marcelo Isaakson, director of the Chilean Jewish Community. 

Valeria Grimberg participated in the meeting of ROI-CLI directors and in the opening of ROI seminar. 

A group of New Generations members from Latin - 

America Aaron Starkman (El Salvador), Alice Berggrun 

(Colombia), Mark Blanc Marda (Peru), Alberto Tawachi 

(Panama), Erik Damian Meier Kirzner (Bolivia), Jonathan 

Sosky (Paraguay) and Ariel Seidler - met at the LAJC 

offices presenting the Observatorio Web. 

Montevideo 

LAJC sent a letter to Uruguayan Vice-President Danilo Astori, thanking him for his country’s support 

of Israel in his speech at the UNGA. 

Saul Gilvich and Epelman met Gerardo Bleier, adviser to former Uruguayan President Tabaré 

Vazquez. 

The New Generations group of Uruguay met Jorge Batlle, 

former President of Uruguay in Montevideo. Battle also met 

Gilvich and Epelman. 

Santiago de Chile 

LAJC supported the Chilean Jewish Community on the enactment of a law against discrimination. 

Sao Paulo 

The New Generations group met in Sao Paulo with 

Sztulman Ilan, consul of the Embassy of Israel in Brazil. 


DECEMBER 

Buenos Aires 

Ariel Seidler held a meeting with the cultural attaché of the Paraguayan Embassy in Buenos Aires 

and with Pauli Carri, director of the program "Discrimination on the Internet" from the National 

Institute Against Discrimination. 

Ariel Seidler met with Deputy Claudio Presman, to discuss including videos on Human Rights in the 

netbooks that the government gives to public schools. 

Seidler met with the president of the Bolivian Lawyers association in Argentina and with Juan 

Sarrafian, director of the Armenian Center. 

The group of New Generations of Buenos Aires met 

Matías Kulfas, director of the National Bank of Argentina 

and President of the Economics Association for 

Development of Argentina. 

Claudio Epelman participated in the Christmas Eve Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. 

Afterwards, Epelman was invited to join the Christmas dinner together with the Cardinal at Buenos 

Aires Cathedral. 

Epelman and Valeria Grimberg held the final activity of New Generations 2011 in Buenos Aires. 

La Paz (Bolivia) 

Verónica Machtey met Bolivian Parliamentarians Adrian Oliva, 

Alejandra Prado, Norma Piérola, Roger Pinto and Jeanine Añez 

Chavez and the Jewish Community. She also held a meeting 

with Roberto Nelkenbaum, Honorary Consul of Israel in La Paz. 

Montevideo 

Ariel Seidler met with Hannah Rosenthal, Special Envoy of the U.S. State Department on issues of 

anti-Semitism, in the framework of the Policy Conference of B'nai B'rith International in Montevideo. 

He also met with Senator Alberto Couriel and with Shai Abend and Alejandro Wajner from the group 

of NG. 

The New Generations group met to evaluate the work of 2011 and to plan activities for 2012. 

Sao Paulo 

LAJC president Jack Terpins, LAJC vice-president Ronald 

Bakalarz, LAJC advisor Guiora Esrubilsky and Claudio Epelman 

met to discuss the LAJC agenda and participated in the Pan- 

American Maccabbi Games, which took place in Sao Paulo and 

where more than 10,000 people gather to compete in sports. 

Terpins and Epelman met the delegation of the Jewish 

Community Center that was in Sao Paulo. 


Washington 

In Washington D.C. (USA) Epelman participated at the 36th 

OAS Policy Round Table, as the Jewish representative of Latin 

America. He shared a panel with Cardinal Francisco Robles 

(from the Latin American Episcopal Council - CELAM) and 

Muhammad Yusuf Hallar, Secretary General of the Islamic 

Organization for Latin America and the Caribbean. He also 

participated in the meeting of the Latin American Religious 

Leaders' Council at the George Washington University. 


World Jewish Congress 

United States, North America 


The Assault on Israel’s Legitimacy, the United Nations, the Iranian Threat, Israel and International 

Affairs, Community Outreach- Latino American/ Jewish Relations, Interfaith Efforts, Anti-Semitism, 

Outreach to Young Leadership, Restitution, Governance 


Since the beginning of 2011, World Jewish Congress, United States and North America (WJC-US, 

NA, aka “American Section”) witnessed increased efforts on the part of anti-Israel elements in the 

United Nations to strengthen the international campaign to de-legitimize Israel. Despite the 

backtracking of Judge Goldstone who said that “unlike Hamas, Israel did not intentionally, as a 

matter of policy, target civilians in its 2008-2009 war to stop indiscriminate rocket attacks from 

Gaza,” the United Nations continues to let the Report stand. 

The Palestinian Authority made good on the announcement made approximately two years ago 

that it would go to the United Nations to unilaterally declare a Palestinian State, outside of the 

peace talks. 

As well, at the beginning of this year, we were deeply concerned by increased “BDS” measures on 

campus, including discrimination against Jewish students in such traditionally “Jewish” campuses 

such as New York University, Brooklyn College, Rutgers, and others. WJC-US Acting Chair Joel 

Meyers assumed the co-chairmanship of the Conference of Presidents Task Force on the De- 

Legitimization of Israel, together with past CoP chair Mort Zuckerman. 

WJC- US,NA efforts to combat the assault on Israel’s legitimacy at the UN entailed a systematic 

roster of meetings with UN representatives, which we began at the beginning of the 

year. Meetings with officials included Ambassador Kiyo Akasaka, the Under-Secretary General of 

Communication and Public Information at the UN; Ambassador Ragaglini of Italy to the UN; 

Ambassador Araud of France to the UN; Ambassador Meron Reuben of Israel to the UN; 

Ambassador Haim Waxman, Deputy Ambassador of Israel to the UN, and Legal Advisor Ady 

Schonmann of the Mission of Israel to the UN, and head of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism 

committee Amb. Hardeep Singh Puri. 

Deeply disturbed by the move of UNESCO to designate the Tomb of Rachel and the Cave of the 

Patriarchs as mosques, we met with UNESCO head Irina Bukova and Bulgarian UN ambassador 

Rayko Raytchev, and in Paris, together with EJC, with Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO 

World Heritage Center, to express WJC opposition, and consulted in Paris with Israeli envoy to 

UNESCO Nimrod Barkan on this matter. 

Leading up to the UNGA this year, most of our activities dealt with the Palestinian efforts to 

unilaterally declare an independent state at the UN, and “Durban 3” conference or the High Level 

meeting to Commemorate the UN World Conference Against Racism at Durban of 

2001. Consultations were held with the American Association of International Lawyers and Jurists, 

WJC NORTH AMERICA REPORT: PAGE 1 OF 12

Deputy Consul General of Israel Shlomi Kofman, the Conference of Presidents United Nations Task 

Force headed by WJC North America Chair Evelyn Sommer and ADL president Robert Sugarman, 

and with Ambassador Danny Carmon, the point person of the MFA of Israel on Durban 3. We met 

with new Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor as soon as he arrived in New York this past 

summer. 

Meetings were held in July and August with UN ambassadors and continued in September with 

visits with Heads of Delegations to the UNGA. We were privileged to be accompanied by the 

leadership delegation of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, chaired by MP 

Fiamma Nirenstein. We were hosted by WJC president Ronald Lauder at a dinner together with the 

United Nations ambassadors of France, the EU, Russia, Poland, Germany, and the DPR of Italy. 

Nirenstein, WJC Secretary General Dan Diker and other MP’s addressed a press conference in the 

United Nations and a visit was made to Washington DC to meet with Ambassador Michael Oren. 

Other meetings were held with leaders such as Prime Minister George Papandreou of Greece, 

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of Italy, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia, Foreign Minister 

Janos Martonyi of Hungary, Foreign Minister of Spain Trinidad Jimenez, Foreign Minister Mladenov 

of Bulgaria, Foreign Minister Timmerman of Argentina, Foreign Minister Stavros Lambridinis of 

Greece, among many others (full list below). 

Special recognition during this UNGA period was awarded to Canada for its staunch support for 

Israel by the WJC at a reception organized by WJC-US, NA at the home of WJC president Ronald 

Lauder in honor of Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. Guests included members of World 

Jewish Congress, Jewish community leaders of the umbrella organizations, and members of the 

diplomatic corps, including Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel Danny Ayalon, Ambassador Michael 

Oren, Israeli ambassador to the United States, Foreign Minister Baird of Canada, and others. 

Ronald Lauder also honored Israel by giving a dinner in honor of Foreign Minister of Israel Avigdor 

Lieberman in the company of dignitaries and Jewish community leaders. 

Since the issues of the Palestinian quest for statehood outside of the peace process at the UN 

continues, follow up to all this activity is being continued with UN representatives into November 

and December. 

WJC-US, NA thanked the delegations that opposed the Durban 3 conference and refused to attend, 

and also those who refused to be present in the UN hall during the hate-filled speech of Iranian 

president Ahmadinejad. The United States Congress passed resolutions opposing the unilateral 

declaration of a Palestinian state (UDI) and WJC-US thanked the legislators who supported those 

initiatives in the House and Senate. 

While legislation was introduced to withhold UN funding since the Palestinian gambit, it may not be 

carried through, according to reports at press time. 

“Lawfare” is the term coined to denote the abuse of international law in the effort to de-legitimize 

Israel. WJC-US and NA representatives attended panels recently sponsored by the Consulate 

General of Israel in New York in order to be updated on this issue. 

Evelyn Sommer, Rabbi Joel Meyers and Betty Ehrenberg attended briefings with Ambassador of 

Israekl to the UN Ron Prosor and Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York, 

and former Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations Dan Gillerman on the issue of UNESCO and 

its acceptance of the Palestinian Authority as a member. Ehrenberg and Michael Schneider, 


Secretary General Emeritus, met with Ambassador Amiram Meguid of Israel concerning the 

encouragement of the CARICOM countries to develop better ties with Israel. The Foreign Minister 

of Germany Guido Westerwelle met with a small group of Jewish leaders at the home of German 

Consul General Busso von Alvensleben in New York for a lunch meeting attended by Ehrenberg. 

The Iranian Threat 

The Iranian quest to achieve nuclear weapons continues to loom ever larger as indicated by the 

stunning new IAEA report that reaffirms suspicions that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. The 

IAEA report expressed “serious concerns” about activities within Iran’s nuclear program that 

indicate a clear military dimension, confirming that Iran is in pursuit of a nuclear bomb, despite 

international skepticism in some circles. Announcements of even tougher sanctions have been 

made by the United States, and France has said it will convene the UN Security Council on the 

issue. 

WJC-US is supporting the Iran Threat Reduction Act (H.R. 1905), and the Iran, North Korea, and 

Syria Sanctions Consolidation Act of 2011 (S.1048) which would sanction Iran’s Revolutionary 

Guard Corps and enshrine into law for the first time that it is US policy to prevent Iran from 

obtaining nuclear weapons. Introduced by friends of Israel Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. 

Howard Berman (D-CA) and Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Jon Kyle (R- 

AZ) and others, we are advocating to all the members of Congress to co-sponsor and help pass 

this legislation in order to put strong pressure on the Iranian regime, its energy firms, and financial 

institutions that support the nuclear effort and terrorism as well. 

WJC-US periodically meets with Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) who is the head of the Committee 

on the Western Hemisphere to discuss, among other things, the continuing spread of Iranian 

presence in Latin American countries, in addition to support of those countries for the UDI. 

New legislation is being proposed on Capitol Hill in order to strengthen existing sanctions against 

Iran’s energy sector and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The American Section is 

supporting these strengthened sanctions including Senate Resolution 380 that will urge the 

toughening of sanctions. In addition, more focus was aimed at the CBI, or Central Bank of Iran, as 

well as efforts for the SWIFT mechanism in Belgium international financial ties with Iran and to 

give teeth to existing sanctions. The American Section applauded the European Union 

announcement that it as well would strengthen sanctions on Iran. We will continue to be in touch 

with our counterparts in other countries to encourage cooperation on sanctions. 

Israel and International Affairs 

WJC-US, NA thanked the Senators who wrote letters to Secretary of State Clinton decrying the 

continuous Palestinian incitement to violence and attacks on Israeli citizens. We also continued to 

work to develop a better attitude towards Israel amongst member states of the United Nations by 

grooming relationships with officials who serve in the UN missions and in the Secretariat. We have 

begun to meet with members of UN missions of smaller countries that have been less on the radar 

screen than those in the Security Council, but who nevertheless have the same one vote in the UN 

as every other member state. After consultation with the MFA of Israel, we have held meetings 

with representatives of countries in the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and Latin American and 

African countries. Countries that we plan to cultivate in the coming months are Barbados, Guyana, 


Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Kenya, Namibia, and 

countries where Israel has “Mashav “ or domestic aid programs that may help foster support. 

We continued to meet with members of Congress on the issue of foreign aid to Israel as well as the 

above-mentioned Iran sanctions, both in New York and in Washington. WJC-US continues 

regularly to meet with Israeli officials in the United States including visiting Israeli Ministers, 

members of Knesset, and members of the Israeli diplomatic corps all over the United States with 

whom we work closely on all WJC priority issues. 

WJC-US rejoiced with Israel at the homecoming of Gilad Shalit and remains active on the issue of 

the Israeli soldiers missing in action (MIAs). We continue to work with elected officials, 

representatives of foreign governments, and international organizations for the release of the other 

Israeli MIAs, namely Ron Arad, Guy Chever, Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, and Zachary Baumel, this 

last who is both a citizen of Israel and the United Sates. We continue to be in contact with the 

families of these MIAs in order to advocate on their behalf and reassure them that they are not 

forgotten. 

Justice for Jews in Arab Countries – WJC-US, NA will utilize its constituents in both the US and 

Canada to further this cause, particularly on the legislative level, to raise awareness amongst 

elected officials as well as among the public and in the Jewish community of the many important 

aspects and ramifications of the issues of Jewish refugees from Arab lands. Plans are being made 

at press time to heighten the profile in Congress, in the media, and amongst our constituent 

organizations. 

Work continued in cooperation with the WJC Jerusalem office and with Justice for Jews in Arab 

Countries to try to come to a common working plan across the globe. At press time, plans include 

hearings in various capitals and increased media coverage to educate the public. The focus will be 

on the thea great number of Jewish refugees who lost property and citizenship as they were forced 

to flee persecution from many Arab countries. 

The WJC-US was pleased to provide to leaders of American Jewish organizations and elected 

officials the new WJC book “Israel’s Rights as a Nation-State in International Diplomacy” that was 

co-produced by the WJC headquarters in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and 

is happy to report the very favorable reaction we have received as well as requests for multiple 

copies. Organizations in the US such as the American Zionist Movement and Mercaz have utilized 

the book in Israel advocacy seminars. 

The WJC-US participated in cooperation with the Conference of Presidents and consultations for 

Jewish organization leadership as to further steps to advocate for Israel. Rabbi Joel Meyer, Interim 

Chair of WJC-US, chairs the CoP Task Force on this issue. WJC-US and North America 

representatives attended a Chanukah party held at the Neue Galerie hosted by WJC President 

Ronald S. Lauder together with Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor. Over 200 United Nations 

officials, and Jewish and political leaders were in attendance. 


Community Outreach – Latino American/Jewish Relations 

This year, WJC-US made special efforts to reach out to the Latino American community, an ethnic 

group increasing in population and importance in the United States. Together with Bridges and 

Pathways, an outreach group chaired by former Secretary Henry Cisneros and Rabbi Aryeh 

Scheinberg of San Antonio, and the Netanya Academic College of Israel, WJC-US cosponsored a 

conference that brought together American Jewish leaders and Hispanic American leaders in all 

fields. We are following up with plans in the footsteps of San Antonio and will soon meet with 

groups of Jewish and Latino American students at different colleges and universities in order to 

help foster good relationships among the young and to help educate about the historical support 

that Israel has had in many Latin American countries. Betty Ehrenberg will attend a University of 

Texas at Austin to discuss intergroup relations with Latino American-Jewish Student 

Coalition. Other plans are being made at press time to include young Latino Americans in special 

events at WJC, North America. 

Evelyn Sommer, Chair, WJC-NA, and Betty Ehrenberg met with UN Ambassador Prosor regarding 

the RIO group which will be holding a conference in the coming months. Ehrenberg attended a 

session at AIPAC on the growing importance of the Latino community, as a friend of Israel and an 

increasingly important electorate, which featured, among others, executives from Univision, a high 

profile Hispanic media outlet in the United States. 

Interfaith Efforts 

The World Jewish Congress as a whole, and WJC-US in particular, continue to play a central role in 

the activities of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). In 

February, the Brussels office was key to the coordination and planning of the International Liaison 

Committee (ILC) of IJCIC, together with the Jewish community of France and its president Dr. 

Richard Prasquier. The meeting was attended by an international group of both Jewish and Catholic 

leaders, including WJC representatives Rabbi Joel Meyers, Acting Chair of WJC-US, Betty 

Ehrenberg, Maram Stern, Deputy Secretary General, Isabella Nespoli, Director of Interfaith Affairs, 

Claudio Epelman, Executive Director of LAJC, and many members of the organizations on the WJC- 

US Board. 

Following this meeting, IJCIC held elections for new officers in June which resulted in the election 

of Professor Lawrence Schiffman (Orthodox Union) as Chairman, Betty Ehrenberg (World Jewish 

Congress) as Vice-Chair, and Martin Budd (ADL) as Treasurer. 

WJC-US served on the planning committee for the IJCIC meeting with Kurt Cardinal Koch, 

President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and responsible for Vatican 

relations with the Jewish community. The meeting, held in a friendly and warm atmosphere, 

entailed a frank and detailed discussion of the many issues on the table – the relationship of the 

Church with SSPX and Bishop Williamson, the unfinished issue of Pope Pius XII and World War II, 

Vatican –Israel relations, and the rise of radical extremist Islam. Special emphasis was put on 

furthering education about Nostra Aetate, especially in view of the upcoming 50 th anniversary of 

that breakthrough in Catholic-Jewish relations. Plans are being made for special markings of the 

date. 

WJC-US organized a dinner hosted by WJC president Ronald S. Lauder at his home in honor of Kurt 

Cardinal Koch, that was attended, among others, by Evelyn Sommer, Chair, WJC-NA; Richard 


Joel, President of Yeshiva University; Rabbi Peter Rubinstein of Central Synagogue; Congressman 

Robert Turner (R-NY); Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop Emeritus of New York; Archbishop 

Francis Chullikatt, Ambassador of the Holy See to the UN; Bishop William Murphy of the Roman 

Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY; Father Dennis McManus, Professor of Theology at 

Georgetown University; Father Norbert Hoffman, Secretary , Commission for Religious Relations 

with the Jews; Father James Massa, Executive Director of USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and 

Interreligious Affairs; Robert Sugarman, President, ADL; Prof. Lawrence Schiffman, Vice Provost of 

Yeshiva University and Chair of IJCIC; Betty Ehrenberg, Executive Director, WJC- United States 

and North America and Vice Chair of IJCIC;, and Martin Budd, Treasurer of IJCIC. It was an 

important event that introduced the Cardinal to New York leaders. 

Pope Benedict XVI held a special interfaith gathering at Assisi, following up on the gathering held 

by Pope John Paul II in 1986. More than 300 religious leaders, of all faiths and from all over the 

world, met in Assisi to exchange messages of hope for peace and co-existence. Maram Stern was 

the main representative of WJC to the gathering and Betty Ehrenberg attended as Vice Chair of 

IJCIC. The gathering was impressive as was the wide array of participants. 

At Assisi, Ehrenberg met with Metropolitan Emanuel of the Greek Orthodox leadership to follow up 

the discussions of possible meetings with them in New York with WJC and at another venue with 

IJCIC. This is in parallel to the WJC outreach efforts to the Christian Orthodox on the part of Rabbi 

Pinchas Goldschmidt of Moscow, and following up a meeting with Archbishop Heironymous of the 

Greek Orthodox Church of Athens which was co-chaired by WJC-US Acting Chair Rabbi Joel Meyers 

in Athens in February during a mission of American Jewish leaders to Greece, attended by Betty 

Ehrenberg and representatives of WJC-US member organizations. 

World Jewish Congress-United States has increased its outreach to important American Christian 

leaders, including leaders of the New York Archdiocese, the national leadership of the Evangelical 

community, and Catholic leaders of the Latino American community. Rabbi Joel Meyers regularly 

attends national and international interfaith gatherings. An area that continues to be of concern 

and marked for increased involvement is the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its US affiliate 

the National Council of Churches. We are working with representatives of the Presbyterian 

community in order to help to stave off a repeat of the call to boycott Israel that was a feature of 

the last conference of the Presbyterian Church-USA. 

We continue to be in close contact with Israel’s representative for interfaith relations in the Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs Bahij Mansour who we recently hosted a luncheon briefing at WJC-US and with 

the Ambassador of Israel to the Vatican, Mordechai Lewy. 

Rabbi Marc Schneier, Vice President of WJC and Honorary Chair of WJC-US, continues to work to 

enhance Muslim-Jewish relations via the projects and programs of the Foundation for Ethnic 

Understanding. A recent success was a joint statement of Muslim and Jewish leaders in support of 

the release of Gilad Shalit. 

A meeting was held at WJC-US with Muslim leaders of Serbia, including the Grand Mufti and 

seceral deputies. The meeting was attended by Ehrenberg, Michael Schneider, and Rabbi Marc 

Shneier and US State Department representatives. 

Ehrenberg, as Vice Chair of IJCIC, continued to host meetings of the IJCIC Governing Board at New 

York WJC Headquarters and plans were begun an Emerging Leaders Conference that will be 


comprised of 25 young Catholic leaders and 25 young Jewish leaders who are deeply involved in 

interfaith work. This conference will take place in the spring of 2012 in the United States. 

WJC –US is leading IJCIC preliminary discussions with the Christian Orthodox Church for a summit 

meeting that will take place at the beginning of 2013. 

Anti-Semitism 

World Jewish Congress-United States continues to work closely with major American Jewish 

organizations and with international organizations on anti-Semitism. Two issues that have resurfaced 

this year are anti-shechita measures that have been reported in New Zealand, Holland, 

and in other countries, and anti-brit milah measures, which have grabbed headlines in two cities in 

California. These latter measures have recently been defeated by Governor Jerry Brown of 

California. Together with the Conference of European Rabbis and leaders of B’nai B’rith 

International, ADL, Orthodox Union, Rabbinical Council of America , and others, the WJC-US is 

monitoring the aftermath of a vote in the lower house Dutch Parliament in favor of a detrimental 

anti-shechita bill, and working to prevent its ultimate passage. 

An atmosphere of anti-Zionism and discrimination against Jewish students is prevalent on many 

campuses in the United States, even those with many Jewish students. Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish 

demonstrations and incidents are perpetrated by pro-Palestinian elements in universities across the 

country. Jewish students continue to be harassed by Muslim students on campus by preventing 

pro-Israeli speakers from appearing in campus, setting up “fake roadblocks” while enacting IDF 

alleged activities in the territories. There are anti-Israel articles in campus papers. Professors are 

not usually of help and, unfortunately, often side with the pro-Palestinian elements. Recent reports 

of anti-Semitic and anti- Israel expressions, signage and pronouncements occurring at the Occupy 

Wall Street (OWS) demonstrations in New York and other US cities have been cause for 

concern. WJC-US continues to be in touch with the Secure Community Network umbrella for the 

American Jewish community on this and other anti-Semitic incidents reported in the US, as well as 

with the departments of the ADL and AJC in regular contact with law enforcement on Jewish 

security. We remain in contact with the US State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and 

Combat Anti-Semitism and attend briefings and receive updates of the Helsinki Commission and 

OSCE that deal with monitoring anti-Semitic activity in the United States and abroad. 

WJC-US hosted several delegations since May of this year that reported on anti-Semitism and 

activities towards the de-legitimization of Israel and the Jewish community around the world. One 

group consisted of ten Polish educators who specialize in Holocaust education. They reported on 

attitudes among young Poles towards Jews and the positive effect that education about the 

Holocaust in high schools can have. 

A visiting delegation from Buenos Aires, Argentina that included AMIA president Aldo Donzia and 

leaders of the DAIA and Relatives and Friends of the Victims of the AMIA attack was hosted by 

WJC-US. They described their continuing frustration at the failure of the international community 

to apprehend the perpetrators of the horrific bombing attack on the AMIA and DAIA in 1994, 

despite the fact that the suspects are clearly known and on the Interpol list of those who 

received Red Notices. Sammy Eppel of CAIV, the WJC affiliate community in Venezuela, updated 

us on the status of the Jewish community there and their security concerns. We hosted a 

delegation of leaders of the Russian Jewish Congress led by RJC president Yuri Kanner who were 

briefed by WJC president Ronald Lauder. Rabbi Marc Schneier moderated a meeting with a State 


Department delegation comprised of Chief Rabbi of Serbia Rabbi Asiel, the Grand Mufti of Serbia, 

and the head of the Serbian Protestant Church. Mike Whine of the EJC briefed us on the new report 

on anti-Semitism in the UK and Jeremy Newmark of the British Jewish Leadership Council gave his 

perspective. Regarding many reports about an increase in anti-Semitism in Hungary, we met 

with Andras Levente Gal, State Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary, 

to update us on the status of the Jewish community in Hungary and its institutions. 

Ehrenberg and Sommer discussed issues that will be raised in Jewish community meetings with 

candidates in the upcoming election season. Prominent among them will be the rising number of 

anti-Semitic incidents that are taking place across the globe. 

Outreach to Young Leadership 

WJC-US continued to increase outreach to young leaders and to encourage their promotion in WJC- 

US member organizations. Young leaders continued to participate in WJC-US meetings and briefing 

sessions, (including those representatives in the US of the WJDC who wish to continue to 

participate in the WJC), young professionals of WJC-US member organizations, and student interns 

from universities in New York who are interested in the work of WJC. Plans to increase the 

participation of young people in WJC activities are being made at press time. 

Restitution 

Michael Schneider and Menachem Rosensaft continue to represent the WJC at the WJRO and the 

Claims Conference and to work towards the restitution of Jewish property and justice for Holocaust 

survivors. WJC-US continues to participate in meetings with representatives of foreign countries 

where the Holocaust and restitution are on the agenda, together representatives of the American 

Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Claims Conference, B’nai B’rith, and National Conference on 

Soviet Jewry. WJC-US continues to be in contact with representatives of the office of the Prime 

Minister of France regarding American survivors who were the victims of the Vichy regime. 

Governance 

World Jewish Congress-United States continues to uphold and improve its governance 

accountability, proper filing of taxes and audits, and government reform. In October 2010, WJC-US 

made its final report to the Attorney General of New York State, assuring its transparency and 

propriety of financial operations as well as its good governance practices. World Jewish Congress- 

US has the approval of the Better Business Bureau, a non-profit organization to whose standards of 

proper performance we adhere. 

By November of 2011, the WJC-US Governing Board By-Law Review Committee was planning to 

meet soon to review WJC- US By-Laws with the goal of improving its functions. 

At the end of 2011, the WJC –US Governing Board By-Law Review Committee met and discussed a 

new draft By-Laws proposal. This proposal is voted voted on at the WJC-US Governing board 

meeting on March 12, 2012. 

Betty Ehrenberg 

Executive Director 

World Jewish Congress, US, NA 

March 29, 2012 


Meetings and Briefings, WJC-US, 2011 

Briefings for WJC-US, NA 

January 5: 

January 10: 

February 1: 

February 3: 

February 24: 

March 9: 

March 14: 

March 21: 

April 4: 

April 13: 

May 2: 

May 13: 

May 31: 

June 2: 

July 12: 

July 18: 

July 20: 

July 21: 

August 8: 

September 22: 

September 27: 

October 4: 

October 10: 

Ambassador Kiyo Akasaka, Undersecretary General of Communication and 

Public Information at the United Nations 

Deputy Consul General of Israel Shlomi Kofman, Durban III 

Briefing, Amb. Haim Waxman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to 

the UN and Ady Schonmann, Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of Israel to 

the UN 

Conference call briefing for WJC with Prof. Barry Rubin, GLORIA 

Briefing, UN Committee on Status of Women 

Briefing with Ofer Eini, Chairman of Histadrut (WJC and CoP) 

Task Force consultation on the de-legitimization of Israel, Rabbi Joel Meyers 

Briefing, Min. Moshe Ya’alon (with American Friends of Likud) 

Briefing, Lord Parry Mitchell, Chairman of the Coexistence Trust (Interfaith) 

Briefing, Ambassador Meron Reuben, Ambassador of Israel to the United 

Nations 

Briefing, Mike Whine, EJC, Jeremy Newmark, of JLN, UK (re: anti-Semitism) 

Briefing, Amb. Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the UN 

Briefing, Amb. Meron Reuben, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN 

Briefing, Amb. Amiram Magid, Ambassador of Israel to CARICOM 

Briefing, Consul General of Italy, Francesco Maria Talo 

Briefing, Andras Levente Gal, State Secretary, Ministry of Public 

Administration and Justice of Hungary 

Briefing, Task Force on De-Legitimization, Rabbi Joel Meyers (with CoP) 

Briefing, Bahij Mansour, Department on Inter-religious Affairs, MFA, Israel 

Briefing, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Conference of European Rabbis, re: 

Dutch anti-schitah initiative (with ADL) 

Briefing with the AMIA, DAIA presidents and Relatives and Friends of Victims 

of AMIA Bombing 

Consultation with Ambassador Ido Aharoni and Ambassador Ron Prosor 

(Evelyn Sommer, WJC and CoP) 

Conference call with Secure Community Network, for member organizations 

of WJC-US 

Briefing, Delegation of Polish Educators 

Meetings 

January 6: 

January 12: 

January 27: 

March 3: 

May 26: 

June 7: 

June 16: 

Irina Bokova and Hungarian UN Ambassador Csaba Korosi, regarding 

UNESCO 

American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (Durban III) 

Meeting with Hungarian Opposition concerning right wing parties 

Meeting at UNESCO (with EJC), (Tomb of Rachel and Cave of Patriarchs) 

Meeting, Serbian Interfaith Delegation and US State Department 

Representatives 

Meeting, Foreign Minister Juppe of France, (Consulate General of France), 

with RSL 

UN Task Force Consultation (WJC and CoP) 


July 7: 

July 14: 

July 17: 

August 11: 

September 15: 

October 17: 

November 1: 

November 4: 

November 9: 

December: 

December: 

December: 

December 29: 

Meeting, CAIV, Jewish Community of Venezuela 

Meeting, Amb. Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United 

Nations (UDI) 

Meeting, Shlomi Kofman, Deputy Consul General of Israel (UDI) 

Meeting by teleconference, WJC-US By Laws Review Committee 

Meeting, General Eliezer Shkedi (re: Iran) 

Meeting, Constantinos Filis, Advisor to Papandreou 

Meeting, Israel Chief Energy Advisor 

Meeting, RSL and Ambassador Guillermo Rishchynski, Ambassador of Canada 

to the United Nations 

Meeting, Adrian Olivia Alcazar, MP, Bolivia, on AMIA and DAIA 

Meeting, Ambassador Amiram Magid, Ambassador of Israel to CARICOM 

Governor Mitt Romney 

Meeting, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle 

Meeting, WJC-US By Laws Review Committee 

Washington DC Meetings and Conferences 

May 3-4: 

May 22: 

May 25: 

December 8: 

ICJP (with Diker and Grundwerg) 

AIPAC Policy Conference 

ICJP (with Diker) 

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies 

State Department Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism – meetings, December, May, October 

State Department OSCE – meetings, December, May 

Helsinki Commission meeting, October 

Meeting 

Cong. Eliot Engel, October 

Conferences – Participation 

February 8-21: 

February 27- 

March 2: 

March 27-28: 

June 19-29: 

October 26-28: 

November 9: 

November 14-15: 

November 16: 

Mission to Greece and Israel 

International Liaison Committee, IJCIC, Paris 

Hispanic-Jewish Conference: “American Latinos and Jews: Shared 

Heritage,Values and Visions”, San Antonio, TX 

WJC Governing Board, Shimon Peres Conference, ICJP Conference 

Vatican Assisi Conference 

UN Kristallnacht Commemoration: International Justice after Nuremberg 

WJC Executive Committee Meeting in Brussels 

Jewish and Latino American Student Coalition – University of Texas at Austin 


Special Events 

May 10: 

September 6: 

September 7: 

September 7: 

September 8: 

September 20: 

September 21: 

October 31: 

December: 

December: 

December: 

Luncheon with delegation of Russian Jewish Congress, RJC president Yuri 

Kanner and Ronald Lauder 

Reception and dinner with ICJP and UN ambassadors, with Ronald Lauder 

ICJP Steering Committee meeting in New York 

ICJP dinner with Ambassador Michael Oren, Ambassador of Israel to the 

United States 

ICJP Steering Committee meeting in Washington DC 

Reception honoring Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, with Ronald 

Lauder 

Dinner honoring Avigdor Lieberman, Foreign Minister of Israel, with Ronald 

Lauder 

Dinner honoring Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for 

Promoting Christian Unity that includes the Pontifical Commission for 

Religious Relations with the Jews, with Ronald Lauder 

Chanukah celebration, Mayor Michael Blumberg of New York 

Chanukah celebration, Consul General of France Philippe Lalliot 

Chanukah celebration, Consul General Peter Brezovszky of the Republic of 

Austria 

Ad Hoc Jewish NGO Caucus Briefings (organized by WJC-US) 

August 24: 

November 2: 

December 7: 

Ambassador Ido Aharoni 

Amb. Jamal Benomar, UN Special Advisor on Yemen 

Briefing with Howard Stoffer, Deputy Executive Director of the Counter- 

Terrorism Committee, Executive Directorate of the UN 

IJCIC (organized and hosted by WJC-US) 

January 3: 

January 18: 

February 4: 

April 13: 

May 31: 

June 1: 

June 10: 

June 15: 

July 28: 

September 13: 

September 22: 

October 11: 

October 31: 

December 14: 

IJCIC By-laws Committee meeting 

IJCIC Governing Board meeting 






IJCIC executive committee meeting 



IJCIC planning committee, Cardinal Koch visit 

IJCIC planning committee, Cardinal Koch visit 

Briefing with Kurt Cardinal Koch, President, Pontifical Council for Promoting 

Christian Unity (includes the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations 

with the Jews) 


*Note: WJC-US hosts all IJCIC meetings. The October 31 meeting was held at a UJA-Federation. 


UN Meetings (WJC-UA, NA representatives, some included WJC-Israel representatives) 

July 26: 

July 28: 

August 2: 

August 2: 

August 3: 

August 3: 

August 4: 

August 8: 

August 11: 

August 12: 

August 18: 

August 18: 

August 21: 

August 22: 

August 24: 

August 25: 

August 25: 

August 26: 

September 12: 

September 18: 

September 19: 

September 20: 

September 20: 

September 20: 

September 21: 

September 21: 

September 22: 

September 22: 

September 22: 

September 23: 

September 23: 

September 26: 

September 26: 

September 26: 

December: 

Ambassador Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the UN 

Ambassador Csaba Korosi, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the UN 

Ambassador Ken Kanda, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the UN 

Ambassador Jim McLay, Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN 

Ambassador Rayko Raytchev, Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the UN 

Ambassador Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN 

Ambassador Gert Rosenthal, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the UN 

Ambassador Pawel Herczynski, Deputy Permanent Representative of Poland to 

the UN 

Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN 

Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the UN 

Minister Counsellor Francisco Javier Sanabria of Spain 

Consultation with Ambassador Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel 

to the UN 

Meeting with Greek-American Leadership 

Ambassador Nestor Osorio Permanent, Representative of Colombia to the UN 

Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, Permanent Representative of the Ivory Coast 

to the UN 

Ambassador Anastassis Mitsialis, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN 

Ambassador Mary Flores, Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN 

Yvette Sylla, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Zina Andrianarivelo- 

Razafy, Permanent Representative of Madagascar to the UN 

Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN 

Stavros Lambrinidis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece 

Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy 

János Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary 

Trinidad Jimenez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain 

Nickolay Mladenov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria 

Audronius Azubalis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania 

Alistair Burt, MP, United Kingdom 

His Highness the Sheikh of Qatar (Dan Diker) 

Uri Rosenthal, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands 

Hector Timerman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina 

President Berzins and Foreign Minister Kirstovskis of Latvia 

Michael Spindelegger, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria 

Paul Toungui, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gabon 

Doru Costea, Deputy Foreign Minister of Romania 

Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia 

Meetings with Amb. Prosor and AMb. Waxman of Israel 

*Note: The UN meetings were arranged by WJC or jointly with the CoP, BBI, and ADL, or . They 

were attended by representatives of WJC, CoP, BBI, and ADL.

WJC Regional Reports 2011 - World Jewish Congress

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