B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin were notable members of the mission, introducing key speakers in Europe and meeting with senior leadership in Israel.
Below is a recap of some of the news items to surface from the mission:
The Jerusalem Post: Israel needs an influx of millions of Diaspora Jews, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told representatives of American Jewry during a speech Sunday.
“It is clear that today maybe it is time to take real decisions and the real decision is to make aliya and to come to Israel,” Liberman told members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on their annual Israel mission. “With all due respect to all Jewish communities, you know exactly what happens today with assimilation, not just with anti-Semitism and terror threats. I think there is only one place for all Jewish people: Israel.” […] Aliya is a personal choice and the centrality of Israel is paramount is the minds of all of the American Jewish leaders on the mission whether they make aliya or not, said Daniel Mariaschin, the Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International. Baltimore Jewish Life: The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations has represented American Jewry for six decades. This forum of 50 national organizations from diverse segments of the Jewish community deliberate on vital national and international issues.
After a fact finding trip in Europe, Conference leaders are meeting in Israel with government officials and seeing strategic sites. Participating from Maryland, are Nathan J. Diament, Director of the Institute for Public Affairs of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Dan Mariaschin, Executive Vice President, B’nai B’rith International; William Daroff, Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA); Josh Block, CEO and President, TIP,The Israel Project; and Lenny Ben-David, Israeli conference organizer. |
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