Conference of Presidents Pays First Official Visit to Italy

Rome, February 10, 2009…A delegation of leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the umbrella group for 51 national Jewish organizations, will pay its first official visit to Italy beginning Tuesday, February 10th, announced Chairman Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein. Among the high-level government leaders they will meet are President Giorgio Napolitano, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, President of the Senate Renato Schifani, President of the Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini, the leaders of the opposition and Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno.

The Conference of Presidents delegation will also have a special audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican on Thursday, a meeting that comes in the aftermath of recent controversies that locked Vatican-Jewish relations. In recent days, the Vatican denounced the statements and views of Bishop Richard Williamson and demanded that he renounce his statements denying the Holocaust. Conference leaders said they hope this meeting will offer an opportunity to address these sensitive issues and lead to productive dialogue and constructive cooperation. Great importance has been attached to this meeting at which the Pope is expected to address important issues in Catholic-Jewish relations.

Among the highlights of the visit will be sessions with leaders of Jewish communities across Europe in a forum organized jointly by the European Council of Jewish Communities and the Conference of Presidents. “It is an important time, given the critical challenges facing European and world Jewry, for us to come together to discuss our common concerns in ways that reinforce each others’ efforts,” said Solow and Hoenlein.

The program in Italy will also include intensive discussions with the Chief Rabbi and leaders of the historic Italian Jewish community, who will be hosting the delegation at various events. The delegation will visit places of historic importance in Italian Jewish history and will meet students at Rome’s Jewish school. “We have a very full program with in-depth discussions that will enable the Conference of Presidents and its member organizations to better understand and more effectively address the many important challenges on our agenda, including the Middle East, the security of Israel, the upcoming ‘Durban II’ conference, the surge of anti-Semitism and efforts to delegitimize Israel, and European-US relations,” said Solow and Hoenlein.

In addition, the Chargé D’Affaires of the US Diplomatic Mission to Italy Elizabeth Dibble and Israel’s Ambassador to Italy Gideon Meir will address and host receptions in honor of the delegation’s visit.

“We are very grateful for the wonderful hospitality and support shown for this mission, which bodes well for its success,” said Solow.  

The visit to Italy precedes the Conference’s 35th annual Leadership Mission to Israel. In past years, the Conference visited key countries at the official invitation of the governments including Georgia, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania. Conference delegations also met with Russian and German leaders, British officials, leaders of the European Union, European Commission and NATO, and in Kazakhstan, with leaders of six Muslim nations.