Unity is crucial for Jewish community – Israeli ambassador

“Unity is the most important thing to any community. The Jewish Community of Lithuania is not a big one. I am convinced that its members will manage to settle all disputes to be able to get to the key tasks,” the diplomat told Lietuvos Žinios daily in comment of the upcoming election in the community.

Simonas Gurevičius, board member at the Jewish Community, a few weeks ago initiated a petition in connection to the new scheme of election of the community’s leader, demanding that the earlier election procedures should be applied. According to the document, introduction of a new election scheme just a month prior to the elections undermined the power of Jews living in regions.

Gurevicius said he intended to run for the elections scheduled for the end of May. Faina Kukliansky, the current leader, has not yet confirmed her plans of running for a second term.

The ambassador also said Lithuania and Israel should step up their cooperation to preserve the Jewish heritage.

“Jews made a significant contribution to the creation of the state of Lithuania, took part in independence struggles and participated in the building of Lithuania’s economy. Unfortunately, you will hardly find traces of the once prospering community in all parts of Lithuania these days,” Maimon added.