Katsav laments decrease in Jewish population world-wide

The Israeli president Moshe Katsav believes that the Jewish establishment and the State of Israel have failed in their attempts to halt the decline in the Jewish population world-wide. At a special meeting at his official residence called to discuss what he defined as the Jewish people's "deep and ongoing crisis", Katsav noted that only a fourth of Jewish children receive a full Jewish education whereas 70 per cent of Jews were married to a non-Jewish partner. Several dozen Jewish leaders from Israel and abroad attended the meeting, which Katsav called as part of his "second house" initiative. Katsav is advocating the establishment of a second chamber of parliament that would include representatives of world Jewry and discuss issues of concern to the Jewish world.