Thousands of Jews from the Diaspora and delegations from Jewish communities around the world will visit Israel on the occasion of the country’s 75th Independence Day, shortly after Passover.
Special events are planned to take place at the World Zionist Congress of the World Zionist Organization, the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America (GA) as well as the annual conference of Keren Hayesod.
The Jewish leaders will discuss the challenges facing the Jewish communities in 2023 as well as the partnership of Diaspora Jewry in the establishment of the State of Israel and its development throughout its 75 years of existence. They will tour Israel and visit the site where Jewish Agency programs are taking place, as a result of contributions from diaspora Jewry, led by the Jewish Federations of North America and Keren Hayesod – the two main fundraising arms of the Jewish Agency. Many of the representatives of the Jewish communities will take part in the state ceremonies that will be held on Memorial Day and Independence Day across the country. Jews from around the world will participate in the traditional Remembrance Day ceremony of Masa, which is the largest ceremony in English. The ceremony will be held at Latrun on the outskirts of Jerusalem and will focus on “the fateful partnership of Diaspora Jewry in strengthening the State of Israel,” as well as the stories of lone soldiers who were killed during their army service in the IDF.
During Memorial Day, the annual ceremony dedicated to the memory of the Jews who were murdered in terrorist acts and antisemitic incidents around the world will be held at the Jewish Agency square in Jerusalem. One of the speakers will be Julie Platt, the chairwoman of the Jewish Federations of North America who will represent American Jewry.
Jewish Agency Chairman Doron Almog. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)In addition, members of these Jewish organizations will participate in the International Bible Contest for Jewish youth in Jerusalem on Independence Day. The Jewish Agency said in a statement on Sunday that “over eight million Jews and their families live in Jewish communities around the world. The largest community in the world, numbering about six million Jews, is the United States, and other large communities exist in France, Canada, Great Britain, Argentina, Russia, Australia, Germany, Brazil, South Africa and more.”
Diaspora Jewry was significant for Israel’s establishment
The contribution of Diaspora Jewry to the establishment of the State of Israel is so overwhelming in scope and intertwined in every field and period of our lives, that it is difficult to measure it in absolute numbers. Since the establishment of the state, the Jewish Agency has invested tens of billions of shekels in the development of the State of Israel and the strengthening of Israeli society as a whole, from contributions by Diaspora Jewry – led by the Jewish Federations of North America, the Keren Hayesod Foundation, family foundations and private donors.
Diaspora Jews also contributed to the establishment of hundreds of settlements throughout the country, to the empowerment of hundreds of thousands of children and youth – in the Aliyat Ha’anor project and in a variety of educational programs, to projects that strengthened the peripheral settlements and empowered various populations in Israel, to the establishment of thousands of public, health, cultural and educational buildings all over the country, to educational projects and social and to programs that deepened the partnership between the State of Israel and the Diaspora Jews.
“Hundreds of delegations representing all shades of the people will pass through Israel’s gates this month, by the Jewish Agency’s partners, the Jewish Federations of North America, the World Zionist Organization and Keren Hayesod,” chairman of the Jewish Agency, Major General (res.) Doron Almog said in the statement. Almog added that “their arrival in Israel expresses the partnership of destiny and the deep connection between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry. Our duty is to maintain unity even when opinions differ.”
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