Peru’s half-Jewish president conducts Israel’s Philharmonic Orchestra

21 August 2016, 1:58 pm

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Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, whose father was a Jewish refugee, conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra during the playing of the Peruvian national anthem in the South American country.

“More than 1,400 people who attended the concert celebrated the pleasant surprise and revelation of our president as a conductor. Later, conductor Mehta did the same with the anthem of Israel,” reads a note from the Lima Philharmonic Society.

Presidential candidate for the "Peruanos por el Kambio" party Pedro Pablo Kuczynski celebrates the preliminary results from the runoff elections, on June 5, 2016 in Lima. (AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BERNETTI) — Presidential candidate for the “Peruanos por el Kambio” party Pedro Pablo Kuczynski celebrates the preliminary results from the runoff elections, on June 5, 2016 in Lima. (AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BERNETTI)

Kuczynski, who has studied music and plays the flute, was elected president of the South American country in June. He was born in Lima to a French Protestant mother and a German Jewish father who fled the Nazis in 1933.

— JTA