The Israeli government will approve the establishment of a committee that will respond to a number of suggestions regarding the commemoration of Jews in the Diaspora who were killed in antisemitic terrorist attacks.
Some of the initiatives include the establishment of a memorial site for Diaspora Jews and an accessible database with the information of those who were killed in the Diaspora, because of their Judaism.
According to a proposed resolution that is expected to be approved in Sunday’s cabinet meeting, obtained by The Jerusalem Post, “in view of the Israeli government’s recognition of the need and moral obligation to commemorate Diaspora Jews, [who are not citizens of Israel,] who were murdered because of their Jewishness in hostilities on an antisemitic basis in the Diaspora,” and “in order to promote this commemoration,” the government will decide to “establish a special joint committee with the Israeli government and the national institutions; whose mission is to suggest recommendations regarding activities for the state commemoration” of Diaspora Jews.
What will the committee be discussing?
The committee will submit its conclusions to the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli no later than September 1, 2023. The committee’s responsibility will be to examine and make recommendations, in relation to establishing criteria and standards for commemorating Diaspora Jews who were killed because of their Jewishness.
The committee will also examine the commemoration of non-Jews who were killed during an antisemitic terror attack in the diaspora.
DEBORAH LIPSTADT and Felix Klein visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe during a meeting of special envoys and coordinators to combat antisemitism in Berlin, last month. (credit: WOLFGANG KUMM/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES)An additional idea that the government committee will determine is the establishment of an official state ceremony in memory of Jews who were killed in the Diaspora in antisemitic attacks or rather add an element of memorial for Diaspora Jews in an existing ceremony, during Israel’s Memorial Day.
An additional suggestion is the establishment of a dedicated state monument to commemorate those Jews who were killed in the Diaspora, as well as creating a website with information about those who were killed in the Diaspora and “regulating educational activities in the IDF and in the formal and informal education systems in Israel to commemorate Jews who were killed in the Diaspora.”
The committee will be compromised of members of the government and national institutions and will be headed by Avi Cohen Scali, the general director of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry.
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