Bielski encouraged by immigration figures
JA head: We must counter anti-Semitism
Jews cannot afford to show apathy in face of anti-Semitic remarks, including those by world leaders, Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski tells Ynetnews; says Israel's image in the world improved, more Jews choosing to make Israel their home
Jews cannot show indifference to anti-Semitic remarks, including those made by world leaders, and must speak out against such occurrences and ensure the Holocaust's lessons are not forgotten, Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski told Ynetnews Thursday.
"We are not prepared to carry on when there is so much anti-Semitism," Bielski said, and added that he cannot believe "we've got so much anti-Semitism all over the world," only 60 years after Holocaust survivors walked out of the gates of Auschwitz.
Bielski talks to Ynetnews (Video: Shai Rosenzweig)
The JA chairman said Jews must not accept anti-Semitic comments and noted that such remarks were even uttered by world leaders, referring to recent statements by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Bielski said a conference on anti-Semitism was recently held in South America under the banner "Lo La'adishut" (No to Apathy.)
Anti-Semitism must be countered by a clear message that would not allow the world to forget what happened in the Holocaust, Bielski said.
"We have to be there, to say what we have to say, so the world will know what happened to the Jewish people," he said.
Aliyah by choice
Addressing recently released favorable immigration figures to Israel in 2005, Bielski said he was pleased with the numbers, particularly because they marked a change in direction after five years of decline in Aliyah figures
More people are choosing to move to Israel for two reasons in particular, he said, a perception that the intifadah is behind us, and concerns about their children's education, noting that "Israel is the only place" for those who want their children to be educated in a Jewish state.
Bielski said current-day Aliyah is different from past immigration waves where airplanes would bring Jews escaping countries in distress to Israel late at night. Today, he said, most immigrants are making "Aliyah by choice" and prepare themselves years before making the big move.
"Some of them know where their children are going to study, they know the school," he said, adding that the Jewish Agency encourages potential immigrants to visit Israel "and find out for themselves what life in Israel is all about."
Bielski also acknowledged there are hundreds of thousands of Israelis living abroad, and added that in today's free world those who choose to live Israel must not be judged.
"We can't say those who left are no good," he said. "What we are doing today is trying to get their children to visit Israel, to speak Hebrew, to get in touch with us. We don't want to lose them."
'People understand what we're fighting for'
Turning his attention to Israel's image in the world in the wake of the Gaza and northern West Bank disengagement, Bielski spoke about accompanying Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the United Nations Assembly in New York recently and watching world leaders lining up to speak to the PM or just shake his hand.
"Maybe it's a honeymoon, maybe it's a new direction, but no doubt the image of Israel is right. People understand what we are fighting for," he said.
People increasingly realize the conflict in the region is not two-sided, bur rather, stems from the fact the Palestinian side "hasn't accepted that we are not here on a temporary basis," Bielski said.
