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| Travelling Rabbi and CEO of the African Jewish Congress, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft; SAJBD (Cape) executive director, David Jacobson; SAJBD (Cape) chairman and SAJBD vicechairman, Li Boiskin; WJC President, Ronald Lauder; WJC vice-President, Mervyn Smith; SAJBD vice-chairman, Mary Kluk; SAJBD executive director, Wendy Kahn; chairman of Island Hebrew Congregation Mauritius, Owen Griffiths; and newly appointed WJC Secretary General, Dan Diker. |
Every year, the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) convenes in Jerusalem.
Founded in Geneva in 1936 to unite the Jewish people and mobilise the world against the Nazi onslaught, the WJC is the representative body of Jewish communities and organisations in over 80 countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe and across six continents. It seeks to foster the unity and creative survival of the Jewish people while maintaining its spiritual, cultural and social heritage.
On the 75th anniversary of the founding of the world’s foremost political Jewish organisation, 150 leaders of Jewish communities from around the world gathered in Jerusalem from Sunday 19 June to Tuesday 21 June for this occasion. Included among those present were Mervyn Smith (Vice-president of the WJC), Li Boiskin (SAJBD Cape Council Chairman) and David Jacobson (SAJBD Cape Council Executive Director).
The Governing Board was chaired by Eduardo Elsztain from Argentina, and during the course of the meeting it elected a new secretary-general of the WJC to succeed Michael Schneider (a former Capetonian). The WJC Executive unanimously elected the respected foreign policy expert from Israel, Daniel Diker. We are pleased to announce that Dan Diker will be the keynote speaker at the forthcoming Cape Council Conference in October.
The meeting of the WJC came at a time of unprecedented volatility in the Middle East and for Israel. The conference was dedicated to presenting unified perspectives of the global Jewish community on issues like the Arab Spring and the proposed United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood. The centrality of Jerusalem — historically, spiritually and culturally — to the Jewish people found its public expression in a moving ceremony at the Western Wall (Kotel), where a Sefer Torah was presented by the WJC to members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
“Perhaps more than ever before, the international community is witnessing a variety of pivotal changes which will impact very heavily on the global Jewish community,” said Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress. “The purpose of this gathering is to enable the Jewish world to offer a united voice on these developments so that the vital interests of the global Jewish communities are recognised and acted upon.”
Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Deputy Foreign Minister Dani Ayalon and opposition leader Tzipi Livni all addressed the WJC gathering.
Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner, chairman of IDB Holdings, was presented with the WJC Herzl Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, a co-founder of the Friends of Israel Initiative, addressed the opening dinner, and former president of Uruguay Luis Alberto Lacalle spoke at a dinner on the Monday, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the WJC.
