President of the Eurщ-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Alexander Machkevitch has participated in a conference of leaders of  EuropeanJewish communities. The conference was organized by the European Council of Jewish Communities in cooperation with the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Central Charitable Organization of Jews in Germany (Die Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland (ZWST)).

The forum in Berlin collected more than one hundred and fifty participants: heads of leading Jewish organizations in Eastern and Western Europe, major sponsors of Jewish community life, public figures, and journalists. The conference was also attended by representatives of Jewish communities of North America and an official delegation from Israel. Among the participants of the forum were the leader of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine Igor Kolomoisky, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger, Executive Vice-President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Malcolm Hoenlein. Such pan-European Jewish forums are held once a decade.

The Conference discussed such important topics as the relationship between the Diaspora and the State of Israel, the interaction of communities in Western Europe and the former Soviet Union, the partnership of European Jewry with  the U.S. Jewish Communities, training a new generation of Jewish leaders, and the problem of Jewish philanthropy.

“Today, when a campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel is growing strong all over the world, Jewish communities and their leaders need to focus on European countries that have become a springboard for the campaign. We must coordinate our efforts and develop new approaches to oppose this outrageous phenomenon effectively,” the EAJC President said when addressing the participants of the Conference.