Netanyahu says Israel has ‘responsibility’ to financially support diaspora
Israeli prime minister tells Jewish Agency a fund will be set up to help communities around the world, including against the 'violent scourge of antisemitism'
Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Jewish Agency that Israel “has responsibility for Jewish communities around the world” and that he intends to allocate financial resources to help protect the Jewish Diaspora.
In an address to the organisation’s Board of Governors, as the Agency unveiled its new ten-year strategic plan, the embattled prime minister said: “I intend to pass budget to protect Jewish communities from the violent scourge of antisemitism.”
Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog said “any government of the State of Israel must be inclusive and respective of the Jewish people worldwide” as he spoke extensively of “rifts” between the Diaspora and Israel.
Netanyahu’s speech in Jerusalem, made in his capacity as Minister of Diaspora Affairs, will raise eyebrows in Jewish communities around the world that do not feel Israel has responsibility for them.
He said: “If we want to secure the Jewish future, we must secure the future of the Jewish state. The Jewish state has responsibility for Jewish communities around the world.”
Herzog said the biggest challenges today concerned “questions about Jewish identity and questions relating to intergenerational changes” as well as “antisemitism and the connection to Israel”.
He added: “We are not involving ourselves in politics…But any [Israeli] government must be inclusive and respective of the Jewish people worldwide and deal with the questions of Jewish future together, as the nation state of the Jewish people”.
The Jewish Agency, which was established in 1929 to help bring Jews to Israel, said this week that one of its “key goals for the next decade” was to “increase unity among the Jewish people”.
Herzog said this was “in light of the rifts and dividing issues, including pluralism, such as the Western Wall and conversion issues, and the variety of Jewish lifestyles in Israel and around the world”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
