Meeting Isaac Herzog, President of Israel

We are delighted that Rabbi Mark Goldsmith of Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue had the honour of representing the Reform Movement at the meeting of UK Jewish community leadership with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.

Rabbi Mark noted that what was most striking in both President Herzog and Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s speeches was their emphasis that all denominations of Judaism must be welcome in Israel. This is a clear positive signal for Reform engagement with Israel.

Amira Ahronovitz, CEO of the Jewish Agency, and Nina Freedman, President of the Union of Jewish Students, both spoke about how Israel is today a unifying and dividing issue among young Jewish people. President Herzog commented that, having been leader of the opposition in the Knesset, we in the UK need not to feel threatened by nor desist from robust debate about Israel’s policies but must never stop engaging, visiting and making a difference.