On October 11, 2013, a meeting took place at the Moscow office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress between the EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov with a group of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) officers, who visited Moscow as part of the Mahut Project.

The aim of the Mahut Project is to strengthen the Jewish self-consciousness of Israeli officers, to acquaint them with the cultural life and historical heritage of Russian-speaking Jewry, to create and cement links between the commanding officers of the IDF and the Jewish communities of the world. Implementing the Mahut project became possible due to the close cooperation between the IDF, the Genesis Foundation, the FIDF (Friends of the Israel Defence Forces), and the Jerusalem-based educational center Beit Morasha.

This visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg was the 10th Mahut visit of Israeli officers to Diaspora countries over the last three years. 16 officers ranked from Captain to Colonel, both born in Israel and hailing from the Russian-speaking community, were part of the delegation.

As Maksim Lurje, the Beit Morasha Director of Educational Programs for Russian-Speaking Jews, stressed: “This program is very important both for the army of Israel and for the civil institutes holding it. We believe that such trips help their participants to understand the role of the IDF in the global Jewish community and strengthen the solidarity of the Diaspora communities with Israel. Notably, a connection with Jews from Diaspora countries is a priority for the army, as recorded in the IDF Code of Ethics.

The EAJC Secretary General read a lecture on the current state of the Jewish community in Russia and answered follow-up questions. Michael Chlenov commented on the visit: “I hope that this visit to Russia will help the Russian-speaking IDF officers become closer to their roots, and help those born in Israel to better understand both the repatriate soldiers under their command and their Russian-speaking colleagues. The EAJC is glad to have an opportunity to help this important and beneficial program to achieve its goals, and is ready to continue working together with its organizators.”