JERUSALEM (JTA) — European Jewish leaders met with Poland’s president to discuss Holocaust commemoration, fighting anti-Semitism and the Iranian nuclear threat.
“The government of Poland has long been an important ally and partner of the State of Israel and of Jewish communities in Europe,“ European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor said Tuesday following his meeting with President Lech Kaczynski and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
Kantor also met with former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, with whom he co-chairs the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, a nongovernmental organization that sponsors several initiatives to promote tolerance and mutual respect throughout Europe.
He called the discussions "friendly and constructive."
Kantor said Kaczynski agreed to discuss restitution in a separate meeting later this year. On the issue of Iran, Kantor and the Polish officials discussed the fact that Iran is a global threat jeopardizing world stability rather than just a "Middle East problem."
“In Europe, it is clear that we are standing at an important crossroads of history," Kantor said. "As Europeans, we therefore have a special opportunity and obligation to work together to build a tolerant community of nations, regardless of race or religion.”
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