Israeli House is launching a series of events as a sign of solidarity with Israel. The first country will be Georgia, and then it will continue to Europe and end in Jerusalem, at the Tower of David.
In order to take part in the events, members of the Israeli Knesset from the coalition, as well as leading figures of the opposition, have already arrived in Georgia. The delegation includes the head of the Knesset friendship group with Georgia, chairman of the economy committee David Bitan, from the opposition former minister and current Knesset member Michael Biton, former Knesset vice-speaker, and former head of the Georgia Friendship Group Hilik Bar.
The visit of the delegation started with a trip to the Georgian Schindlers Park, the memorial and the 30-meter painting of Anne Frank in Varketili, and will continue throughout different regions of Georgia.
As part of the solidarity action, an event dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel “From the Holocaust to Success” is planned, to which members of the Government of Georgia, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Avtandil Enukidze, Head of the Friendship Group with the Parliament of the State of Israel Givi Mikanadze, Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Parliament Davit Songulashvili, other officials from Georgia, and Israeli businessmen, tourist companies, Jewish organizations are also invited.
According to Itsik Moshe, founder and head of Israeli House, which is active in 10 countries, the example of Georgia shows that the representation of real Israel and public diplomacy became a real bridge to establish ties to the other side. This has also been confirmed by the number of visits from the Knesset to Georgia.
A meeting of the Israeli delegation with the chairman of the Israel Friendship Group and various committees is planned.
During the visit, the Israeli delegation, in cooperation with Israeli House, will hold events about these topics: 90 years from anti-Semitic laws in Germany to the present day; 75 years since the Independence of the State of Israel was Declared; 34 years of relations between Israel, Georgia and world Jewry; 10 years of “Israeli House NET” activities in Georgia and Europe with international organizations, WZO, AEPJ, EAI, GIL.
“In 1948, after 2000 years of exile, we gained our forces and restored the state,” Moshe notes. “Today, after 75 years of independence, Israel is a living example to the world of how to recover from destruction and become one of the leading countries in the world. Israel is a leader in high technology, medicine, science and progress. But unfortunately, we are still faced with growing anti-Semitism today.
“We must not forget:
“In 1933, when another wave of anti-Semitism broke out, the world was silent, and 6 million Jews were killed.
“In the 15th century, when anti-Semitism was rampant in Spain, people were silent – and this led to expulsion from Spain and great casualties.
“In the 21st century, we must not be silent because we have a strong country and we must fight against anti-Semitism all over the world.
“The ways to deal with it are proper information and the initiation of studies against anti-Semitism in the education system,” Itsik Moshe says, adding: “On the one hand, we will strengthen relations with friendly countries like Georgia. On the other, we will mobilize a million Israelis in the Diaspora who are ambassadors for Israel to defend ourselves against anti-Semitism.
“We have a message mainly for small nations: The main thing is not to remember, the main thing is not to forget. The main thing is the motherland, everything else is the rest.”