Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on Russia’s Jews to “pack their
bags” and move to Israel at a meeting with community leaders during a
visit to Moscow, AFP reports.
“Pack your bags, come home, we will all live together in Israel,” Olmert
said during a visit to the synagogue and community centre at Marina
Roshcha in Moscow.
Russia has one of the biggest Jewish populations in the world.
“There are problems, sometimes there are wars, sometimes it’s dangerous...
but we will help you solve all these problems,” Olmert said, referring to
problems in Israel.
In his speech, Olmert expressed gratitude to President Vladimir Putin,
whom he met on Wednesday, for the Russian leader’s “warm embrace” of the
Jewish community.
Russia’s chief rabbi Berl Lazar and Lev Levayev, a diamond and property
tycoon who has helped fund Russian Jewish groups, attended the elaborate
ceremony in Moscow attended by several hundred people.
According to various estimates, Russia has from 230,000 to 10 million
Jewish residents.