Post conference activities: Study visit to Ukraine

After the “Israel’s Experience of Nation-Building: Lessons for Ukraine” conference, that was held by the New Europe Center and Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter, members of the Israeli delegation held a series of meetings with representatives of the Jewish Diaspora, Ukrainian political and public figures, as well as the leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Among Israeli delegation was Dan Mariashin, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Human Rights Organization B’nai Brith International, Rabbi Michael Melchior, Former Minister for Diaspora and Social Policy and Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, Dan Meridor, President of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Council, Minister of Justice (1988-1992) and Vice Prime Minister (2009-2013) of Israel, Major General Yaakov Amidror, Chairman of the National Security Council of Israel (2011-2013), Einat Wilf, public intellectual, Member of the Knesset (2011-2013), Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Andrew Srulevitch, Director of European Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League, Ariel Rodal-Spieler, Head Writer, IDC Herzliya, Wolf Moskovich, Chairperson of the Department of Russian and Slavic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1976-2004), Berel Rodal, Chair of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Advisory Board.

In the morning the Israeli delegation held a breakfast with representatives of the Jewish Diaspora in Ukraine, attended by Borys Lozhkin, Deputy Chairman of the National Council for Reforms, Leonid Finberg, director of the Сenter for Eastern European Jewish History and Culture Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Josef Zissels, Co-chair of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine (Vaad), Executive Vice President of the Congress of Ethnic Communities of Ukraine, Andriy Adamovsky, Co-chair of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine (Vaad), Vyacheslav Likhachov, Head of the “Analytics” Program (Eurasian Jewish Congress, EJC), and of the National Minorities Rights Monitoring Group. Photos are available here

Also a group of representatives of the Israeli delegation visited the Security Service of Ukraine, where a meeting with the Head of the SBU Vasyl Hrytsak was held.

Another group of representatives of the Israeli delegation visited the Verkhovna Rada, where he met with People’s Deputies of Ukraine: Voitsitska Viktoriia (“SAMOPOMICH” Union”), Sydorovych Ruslan (“SAMOPOMICH” Union”), Prodan Oksana (“Petro Poroshenko Bloc”), Bereza Boryslav (Non-affiliated People’s Deputy), Logvynskyi Heorhii (“People’s Front”). Photos are available here.

After that, an excursion to the Babyn Yar was organized for the delegation from Israel. Photos are available here.

In the evening the Israeli delegation held a meeting on the issues of Ukraine’s politics of memory. Among the invited guests at this meeting were Volodymyr Viatrovych, Director of the Institute for National Memory, Henadiy Verbilenko, General Director of the Holocaust Memorial Center “Babyn Yar”, Yana Barinova, Executive Director of the Holocaust Memorial Center “Babyn Yar”. Photos are available here.

Also have a look at a full photo report from the conference “The Experience of the Statehood of Israel: lessons for Ukraine”, as well as video recording of the event.