The 23–26 of November will see the visit of the President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres to Ukraine. In preparation for the visit, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Secretary General, Chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine, Josef Zisels, sent Shimon Peres a letter describing the main problems of the Jewish community of Ukraine and requesting that the President discuss these questions with Ukrainian leaders during his visit.

On the 17th of November, the Israeli side initiated a meeting between Josef Zisels and presidential representative Yoram Dori. The meeting had a discussion of both questions raised in Zisels' letter and other important topics closely related to the Ukrainian Jewish community and the upcoming visit.

The letter that had been sent to the President of Israel reads:

Dear Mr. President:

Prior to your visit to Ukraine, on behalf of the Jewish community of Ukraine I urge you to include the following topics in your discussion with the Ukrainian administration:

1.The restitution of Jewish community property: our database contains information on over 2,5 thousand objects Jewish community property that had been illegally seized by the Soviet government. In 19 years of independence, no more than 60 buildings of former synagogues have been returned to the Jewish communities. There is also the problem of ritual objects, first and foremost Torah scrolls, which have been illegally confiscated from the Jewish community while the Soviet regime was in power, and which are now being kept in governmental archives, often in very bad conditions.
2.Preserving Jewish cultural heritage: the objects mentioned above include unique historical buildings from the Middle Ages and objects of applied art, which are currently being destroyed by time and the weather. The State neither returns these objects to the Jewish community, nor, unfortunately, takes any actions to preserve them. For example, this includes the 16-18th century synagogue buildings in Satanov, Zhovkva, Brody, Sharhorod, and many other towns in the former Pale of Settlement, as well as the wonderful stone carvings on tombstones in hundreds of Jewish cemeteries.
3.Unfortunately, the government of Ukraine does not pay enough attention to cases of anti-Semitism in the media and especially on the Internet. They are not numerous, however, are still existent. The government does not distance itself from these events, nor does is make sufficient effort to use the legislation in effect against these acts. We also believe that the government does not make enough of an effort to counteract racism and xenophobia toward other minorities, which naturally worries the Jewish community.

Respectfully,

EAJC General Council Chairman
VAAD Ukraine Chairman

Josef Zisels