On December 1-2, a session of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress General Council was held in Jerusalem. The Congress leaders decided to hold a meeting in the capital of the Jewish state in solidarity with the people of Israel who have been victims of terrorist attacks over the last several months.

The session was opened by EAJC President Julius Meinl. In his keynote speech he recalled the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah and noted that the main task of the Congress is in agreement with the main tenets of the holiday: “The mission of the EAJC, as we reflect on Hanukkah, should be to allow every Jew in the world to celebrate their Jewish identity with pride and to stand with Israel, the realization of our national liberation.” When speaking about the problem of anti-Semitism, the EAJC leader stressed: “The invigoration of Jewish life requires us to tackle two issues which have often been wrongly portrayed as contradictory; creating proud Jewish life on the one hand and fighting anti-Semitism on the other. There are those who believe that if we keep our head down, keep our identity quiet or even entirely secret, then anti-Semitism will pass and those that hate will let us be. Those who believe that have failed to learn the lessons of history. The opposite is true. A strong Jewish identity imparts upon each of us the desire to fight anti-Semitism. A well-organized Jewish community provides us with the tools with which to do it.”

“So through the EAJC we will continue to show solidarity with Israel, to stand up and speak out for the Jewish homeland against those who seek to delegitimize and demonize the only democracy in the Middle East. And we will invest more in strengthening Jewish identity, in enhancing Jewish education, Jewish culture and Jewish heritage,” the EAJC President emphasized.

The meeting discussed matters related to the current activities of the Congress, and a possible amendment to the charter of the organization. Moscow, Kiev and Central Asian offices presented their annual reports and programs for next year.

The General Council approved the nomination of the EAJC First Vice-president of Mikhail Mirilashvili (Israel), Vice-Presidents Alexander Granovsky (Ukraine), Peter König (Austria) and Mark Shabad (Israel), presented by Julius Meinl. Haim Ben Yaakov, EAJC long-term representative in Israel, Deputy Secretary General was appointed the Congress CEO. He is to replace executive director of the Moscow office Natalya Schmidt in late December. The Session was led by EAJC General Council Chairman Joseph Zissels.

Representatives of the EAJC leadership, headed by Julius Meinl, visited the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, met with the Acting Chief of Staff Ari Harrow. Representatives of the EAJC spoke about the activities of the Congress and emphasized the willingness to act in support of Israel at the meetings. The Israelis spoke about current threats to the Jewish state, including Iran's nuclear program and Palestinian terrorism, and noted the importance of support for Israel from the Diaspora communities.

When summarizing the results of the session, the EAJC Secretary General Mikhail Chlenov noted: "EAJC has demonstrated its unity in the face of the many difficult challenges, as well as the desire to keep "peace in the house" and willingness to compromise for the benefit of the Jewish communities. This is perhaps the main result of the last session."