Sa’ar kicks off conference with 50 global Jewish leaders amid ‘surging wave of antisemitism’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is convening 50 Jewish community and organization leaders from around the world this week for a conference focused on maintaining contact and cooperation with Israel against “the backdrop of a surging wave of antisemitism,” according to a statement from Sa’ar’s spokesperson.

The gathering of the J50 forum, a forum of 50 Jewish community leaders that Sa’ar established in May at a Foreign Ministry-run international conference on combating antisemitism, is taking place December 21-24 at the Foreign Ministry.

During the conference, which begins a week after two terrorists murdered 15 people in an antisemitic terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, “community leaders will receive policy briefings, public diplomacy materials, and participate in workshops providing tools for coping with the current situation,” the statement says.

The group will meet with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel during their visit, and with Sa’ar on Tuesday.

Sa’ar’s office adds that the forum is briefed monthly by the foreign minister and maintains daily contact with Foreign Ministry officials.