The Israel Council on Foreign Relations hosted a dinner for a delegation from the Berlin-based Institute of Cultural Diplomacy to explore ways in which the two institutions could cooperate. The delegation was led by the former president of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, who was accompanied by former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and the institute's director, Mark C. Donfried.
"Today, Bulgaria and Romania are among Israel's best friends in Europe" declared ICFR board member Yosef Govrin, himself a former ambassador to Romania and author of an authoritative book on the resumption of Israel's relations with Central and Eastern European countries. "Romania," he noted, was the only country in the region never to have severed relations with the Jewish State. President Constantinescu was the first Romanian leader to express genuine contrition for Romania's wartime role in the destruction of its Jewish community and for that he will always be remembered with genuine admiration."
Constantinescu spoke warmly of his relations with Israel and praised the efforts of WJC President Ronald Lauder in reviving Jewish education in Romania, and establishing a Lauder school in Bucharest. "Ambassador Lauder is a friend."
The Jerusalem-based Israel Council on Foreign Relations is devoted to the study and debate of foreign policy, with special emphasis on Israeli and Jewish concerns. The ICFR functions under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress. The council publishes the 'Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs', which appears three times per annum.
