American Jewish leaders coming for solidarity visit

The delegation will meet with political leaders, including Olmert, Barak, Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu.

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
hoenlein 248.88 AJ (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
hoenlein 248.88 AJ
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
A delegation of leaders of American Jewish organizations will be visiting Israel this week to show "support and solidarity with the people and government of Israel as they confront Hamas terrorism and the continuous rain of rockets on civilian populations," its statement said. The delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations will meet with political leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu. It is scheduled to visit Gaza periphery communities and soldiers stationed on the Gaza border. "We hope that our visit will show those on [the] front lines, civilian and military alike, that we are with them in body and in spirit, that we pray for their well-being and stand together with them in [the] battle for lasting peace and security," Harold Tanner and Malcolm Hoenlein, respectively chairman and executive vice chairman of the Presidents' Conference, said in a statement. The delegation will include incoming Presidents' Conference chairman Alan Solow, a Chicago attorney who was a major and early Jewish backer of US President-elect Barack Obama.