WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps Impact

The WJC delegation, traveling between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for activities, is composed of members of the global organization’s Executive Committee, Jewish Diplomatic Corps, Lauder Fellowship, and other leading student organizations such as the European Union of Jewish Students, and World Union of Jewish Students. In addition to the meeting with Herzog, tabbed as the Jewish Leadership Bridge for the Future, the group which also includes Israelis was brought together in collaboration with the Jewish Peoplehood Coalition powered by Reut Group to discuss issues of concern to world Jewry and formulate common actions to foster Jewish unity. The three-day program placed an emphasis on building bridges between Israeli and Diaspora thought leaders through in-depth sessions.

In an exemplary 2022, the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps (JDCorps), under the World Jewish Congress, paved a path of transformative global Jewish diplomacy. With spirited rendezvous across cities like Budapest to London, we nurtured global Jewish leadership in over 30 events. Notably, our JDs voiced concerns at the UNGA and UNHRC, impacting international discourses. From aiding Ukraine to diplomatic undertakings in Moldova, our legacy of 2022 stands as a testament to the promise of an even brighter 2023.

Thirty WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps members from across North America gathered in Washington, D.C. this week for a regional meeting focusing on the state of global antisemitism, the need to oppose the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement against Israel, and the urgency to adopt and implement a national strategy to combat antisemitism. During the three days, members of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps attended meetings with various embassies, the State Department, and the White House.

The delegation had a series of meetings with the national authorities of Moldova, diplomatic missions and international organizations, as well as members of the Jewish Community of Moldova. The focus of these meetings was to find out how the World Jewish Congress can best support Moldova and its Jewish community across a range of areas: sustainable development of the country, human rights promotion and help for displaced persons, campaigning against antisemitism, preservation of Jewish heritage and Holocaust memory in the Republic of Moldova.

Members of the WJC’s Jewish Diplomatic Corps (WJC JDCorps) met with cadets of the United Arab Emirates’ Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) for the first time in what is intended to be a joint series of virtual seminars to educate AGDA cadets about Jewish communities worldwide. AGDA participants during this specific session received briefings about Jewish life is in Latin America, as well as ways to work with civil society and sporting structures to better engage with Jewish communities worldwide.

World Jewish Congress, along with members of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps, held an event on Monday at Tel Aviv University addressing the importance of equality in leadership, at which experts from a wide range of fields came together to discuss solutions for integrating more women into Israeli leadership positions. The event took place under the banner of the World Jewish Congress-Israel and the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps.

Under the leadership of WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, a delegation of 39 members of WJC’s NextGen and WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps from 16 countries travelled to Rome and Vatican City last week to attend the World Jewish Congress Executive Committee — a gathering of senior Jewish community leaders from around the globe.  The delegation was under the banner of WJC’s future leadership programming, which encompasses individuals aged 16-45, who work to develop, engage, and empower our Jewish communities’ future leaders.

The WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps played an integral part in the WJC Executive Committee meeting, where the repercussions of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine on Jewish communities, the future of Jewish education and identity, and the continuing pernicious attempts to defame Israel as an “apartheid state” were at the top of the agenda.

A WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps delegation attended the Latin American Forum on Combating Antisemitism. Organized by the WJC, the Latin American Jewish Congress, and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Forum gathered more than 300 participants from Latin America, including senior politicians, policymakers, and Jewish community leaders. Following the Forum, members of the Jewish Diplomatic Corps continued their stay in Buenos Aires to conduct diplomatic meetings with local, national, and international decision-makers and officials to elevate Jewish concerns onto the political world stage and warn against the rising levels of Jew-hatred.

In late November 2021, in close partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy to Washington D.C., a delegation of 40 members of the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps – from 20 countries – visited the UAE for a week of high-level meetings with government representatives, think tanks, business leaders, faith communities, as well as spent a unique communal Shabbat with the Jewish Council of the Emirates, the local affiliate of the WJC. The vision of the delegation is to serve as a long-term leadership bridge between future leaders in Jewish communities worldwide and their counterparts in the UAE.

The WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps (JDCorps) sent a delegation of 21 members from 10 countries to the International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism in Malmö, Sweden, during which the delegation engaged with diplomats, academics and others to discuss antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance.

The conference included 17 sessions with speakers representing faith and minority communities worldwide, including WJC President Ronald S. Lauder; Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP; Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia Dr. Mustafa Cerić; the UN representative of Bahai Simin Fahande; Secretary-General of Religions for Peace International; Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; and influential thinkers such as Professor Susannah Heschel, chair of the Jewish studies program at Dartmouth; and Professor Cornell Brooks of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Over the course of July, the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps launched a campaign on bringing international attention to the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, to honor the victims and prevent future genocides, and call for unity to combat all forms of racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.

As part of their induction, the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps members met in New York for two days of skills-building workshops, professional briefings, and meetings with international diplomats. WJC President Lauder also held a private discussion with the new JDs to collaborate on creative and professional new initiatives for the WJC, and encouraged the inductees to seize their roles as Jewish leaders speak out on behalf of the Jewish people.

The WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps delegation conducted meetings with several senior officials at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs including State Secretary Antje Leendertse, and Germany’s Special Envoy for Jewish Life in Germany and to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Dr. Felix Klein. They discussed the rise of antisemitism worldwide, the importance of Holocaust remembrance, and the unfair treatment of Israel at international organizations such as the UN.

The World Jewish Congress convened 45 members of its Jewish Diplomats Corps from 20 countries this week in Berlin with several top officials at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the rise of antisemitism worldwide, the importance of Holocaust remembrance, and the unfair treatment of Israel at international organizations such as the UN.

The World Jewish Congress’ Jewish Diplomatic Corps convened in Montevideo, Uruguay meeting with notable national figures including Uruguayan Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Ariel Bergamino, Uruguayan Ambassador to Israel Dr. Bernardo Greiver, World Jewish Congress Vice President and Secretary General of the Latin American Jewish Congress Saúl Gilvich, Iberoamerican General Secretariat Cono Sur Regional Director Alejo Ramirez, and Cardinal Daniel Sturla, Archbishop of Montevideo.

The Moscow conference gathered high-level government officials, civil and religious leaders, and Jewish organizations from all over the world to share best practices on combating antisemitism, racism and xenophobia.

Over the course of the three-day mission, the WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, and engaged with leaders of Israeli society in government, academia, media, faith communities, business and young leadership on issues including regional and security developments in Israel and the Middle East, models of coexistence, drivers of innovation and academic excellence, and Israel in the eyes of the international media.