For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Government of Israel on Sunday agreed to commemorate the non-Israeli victims of antisemitic attacks outside of Israel’s borders.
On Sunday, the government approved the proposal of the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli that was initiated by the Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel,to recognize the obligation of the State of Israel as the State of the Jewish People to commemorate and recognize those Diaspora Jews, who are not citizens of Israel, who were murdered in antisemitic attacks in the Diaspora for the sole reason of their being Jewish.
The World Zionist Organization worked to promote this proposal that was based on a study by the Ruderman Family Foundation that laid out the guidelines for promoting this historic step.
The proposal states that a special committee will be established and headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism that will examine the manner in which those murdered will be commemorated.
The proposal aims to grant recognition to the many families in the Diaspora who lost their loved ones in Antisemitic attacks and deepen the connection and mutual responsibility between the State of Israel and its citizens with the Jews of the Diaspora who all share a common destiny.
“I initiated the move about a year ago after I met with bereaved families from the Diaspora and felt their great pain,” said Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel.
“I congratulate Minister Chikli, the Government of Israel and our partners for promoting this important and Zionist decision.”
“This is an important and necessary step for a nation and a country that has struggled with Antisemitism since its inception. Our brothers and sisters living in the Diaspora are an inseparable part of us and unfortunately they struggle every day with antisemitic events. We will work together with our partners to implement this decision, for the sake of all the People of Israel”
As part of the decision, a special committee will be established including representatives from the Israeli government and the National Institutions, whose mission will be to formulate recommendations to recognize those Jews who are not citizens of Israel and who were murdered in attacks of an antisemitic nature in the Diaspora. The committee chaired by the Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Avi Cohen Scali will submit its conclusions to the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism no later than September 1, 2023.
The committee will be responsible for examining, among other things, the following proposals:
Establishing criteria and standards for commemorating those killed in the Diaspora, including the definition of a hostile action of an antisemitic nature.
The committee will also look into incidents of murder of non-Jews in attacks of an antisemitic nature in the Diaspora.