Amid mounting concerns about the bias against Israel at the United Nations, the world body’s new secretary general, António Guterres, will speak to the more than 600 representatives of Jewish communities in over 90 countries who are gathering in New York from Sunday through Tuesday for the Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress (WJC).
Guterres’ speech at the opening dinner on 23 April 2017, at 18:00 EST (6 o’clock p.m.), marks the first time the UN’s most senior official will address such a gathering of international Jewish leaders.
The Plenary Assembly, which is supreme decision-making body of the WJC, will hear reports about the situation of Jewish communities world-wide and discuss major issues, including anti-Semitism and the rise of extremist political movements.
A WJC-commissioned report will be presented that details the proliferation anti-Semitism on the internet, and policies to combat such phenomena will be discussed. The delegates will also elect the WJC leadership for the coming four-year term. Current WJC President Ronald S. Lauder is standing for re-election.
Other speakers at the event include UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley (tbc), Israeli Minister of Intelligence and of Transportation Yisrael Katz; Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, US Representatives Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey and Lee Zeldin, European Commission Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism Katharina von Schnurbein, as well as the Jewish Nobel Prize laureates Roald Hoffmann (Chemistry), Daniel Kahneman (Economics) and Eric Kandel (Medicine).
