WJC Governing Board Meeting, June 2011

On the 75th anniversary of the founding of the world’s foremost political Jewish organization, 250 delegates and guests from Jewish communities in over 45 countries gathered in Jerusalem for the annual meeting of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress. The Governing Board, which is chaired by Eduardo Elsztain from Argentina, elected Dan Diker, who grew up in New York and now lives in Israel, as new secretary-general of the WJC. He succeeded Michael Schneider, who was awarded the Nahum Goldmann Medal for his lifetime services to world Jewry. In his acceptance speech, Diker vowed that the WJC would continue "to fight for human rights, equal rights, and Jewish rights."

The WJC meeting 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 ceremony at the Western Wall (Kotel), where a Sefer Torah was presented by the WJC to members of the Israel Defense Forces.

“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,” Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, stressed.

He added: “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 recognized and acted upon.”

Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, his deputy Daniel Ayalon and opposition leader Tzipi Livni addressed the gathering. Israeli businessman and philanthropist 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 on Sunday, and former president of Uruguay Luis Alberto Lacalle spoke at a dinner celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the WJC. International Quartet for the Middle East Representative Tony Blair (a former British prime minister) gave a briefing to delegates on the current state of the peace process.