AJC Executive Director David Harris (Olivier Fitoussi/AJC)
The American Jewish Committee’s Board of Governors, in Israel for a three-day visit, held high-level talks with top Israeli leaders this week and was set to visit strategic sites in the south of the country.
Timed to mark the 65th anniversary year of the State of Israel, the delegation from the global Jewish advocacy organization includes nearly 100 individuals from across the United States. Their visit immediately follows Israel’s elections and the inauguration of US President Barack Obama to a second term.
President Shimon Peres shakes hands with AJC Executive Director David Harris during a meeting in Israel (photo credit: Olivier Fitoussi/AJC)
In meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and other top government officials and policy experts, the group addressed its foremost concerns, which include the Iranian nuclear threat, the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the ramifications of the political upheavals in the Arab world, Israel-Diaspora relations and interfaith links.
The board members also planned to pay a solidarity visit to Sderot, the rocket-battered town near the Gaza border, and to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, which received a large AJC donation to strengthen its emergency facilities after Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.
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