Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) President Alexander Machkevitch was awarded the Herzl Award, the highest public award of the Herzliya Conference, for his outstanding contribution to the development of Jewish life in the Diaspora and the full support of Israel.
The annual Herzliya Conference, hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya’s Institute for Policy and Strategy, is considered to be Israel’s most authoritative forum on strategy and security
It brings together leading political scientists, authoritative experts in security, active politicians, public figures and leaders of world Jewish organizations.
The award ceremony took place during the current 11th Conference in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
Presenting the award to the EAJC President, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer emphasized that it is more than just reward. "Alexander Machkevitch is a man who does not wait for the question: "What can I do to the Jews and Israel, " but he first asked, "What else can I do", the minister said.
Alexander Machkevitch in his response, stated: "I accept this award not as a recognition of my personal merit. It is a sign of gratitude to the two million Jews from 25 countries, represented by EAJC. Wherever they live, they hold allegiance to Israel and the Jewish identity".
He urged conference participants to support the initiative of convening an international forum against the deligitimization of the State of Israel."This forum should concentrate the most powerful intellectual resources to develop the most modern and effective responses to the challenges that faces today the Jewish people and the Jewish State", he said.
Several personalities attended the award ceremony, including Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Natan Sharansky, head of the Jewish Agency and Malcom Hoenlein, Executive Vice-President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations.