The President's Residence on Wednesday night hosted a joint dinner for more than 40 world leaders who have come to Israel to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum. The gathering, the first of its kind, in which President Reuven Rivlin hosted some 250 guests, was the first in a series of events that will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.
"This is a historic gathering, not only for Israel and the Jewish people but for all humanity. This evening as we remember the victims of the Holocaust, and World War II, we also mark the victory of freedom and human dignity," Rivlin said.
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"We pass on the memory of the Holocaust to the next generations. I hope and pray that from this room, the message will go out to every country on earth that the leaders of the world will stand united in the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and extremism, in defending democracy and democratic values. This is the call of our time. This is our challenge," he added. "This is our choice."
The president concluded by telling his guests: "Tomorrow we will gather at Yad Vashem to remember and to promise – never again. Yad Vashem is a leading center for Holocaust research and education, guided by historians. Historical research should be left to historians. The role of political leaders is to shape the future."
Harel Tubi, the director-general of the President's Residence, told Israel Hayom: "For the first time in the history of Israel and the presidential institution, 40 leaders have arrived from across the globe to unite around one message that is important to the Jewish people and the State of Israel, particularly amid the backdrop of the efforts in recent years to deny and erase the memory of the Holocaust.
"The President's Residence has never prepared for an event like this before. We're talking about 40 official state visits at the same time in terms of infrastructure, security, accommodation requirements and artistic program. Every detail in the artistic program is deeply related to the memory of the Holocaust," said Tubi.
The World Holocaust Forum is the brainchild of Moshe Kantor, the president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across Europe. The group recently reported that 80% of European Jews feel unsafe in the continent.
Kantor established the World Holocaust Forum Foundation in 2005 and it has held forums before in Auschwitz, the Ukrainian killing fields of Babi Yar and at the former concentration camp Terezin. Thursday's event is the first time it is convening in Israel. The official commemoration marking the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation will be held next week at the site itself in southern Poland.
Tel Aviv University researchers reported last year that violent attacks against Jews grew significantly in 2018, with the largest reported number of Jews killed in anti-Semitic acts in decades. They recorded 400 cases, with the spike most dramatic in Western Europe. In Germany, for instance, there was a 70% increase in anti-Semitic violence. In addition to the shooting attacks, assaults and vandalism, the research also noted increased anti-Semitic vitriol online and in newspapers, as extremist political parties grew in power in several countries.
In advance of the forum, an anthology of statements from world leaders sending delegations to Jerusalem was published to project a newfound commitment to quelling a climate some said was reminiscent of that before World War II.
