Jerusalem Post - 12.22.2003

 

 

 

 

Jerusalem Post

Putin meets Jewish leaders for Hanukka

(AP) - President Vladimir Putin met with two top Jewish leaders on Friday, in honor of Hanukka, and said the Russian leadership will work to prevent anti-Semitism. 

Putin said at the meeting in the Kremlin that that "Russian society has demonstrated many times its complete rejection of any kind of xenophobia and all that hampers the normal development of the country, as a multinational and full-fledged state." "The cultural diversity of our county is a special asset, which needs to be treated with care and, when necessary, protected, and such a state policy will continue," Putin said addressing Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar and Alexander Boroda, a prominent leader of the local Jewish community. 

Lazar, at the start of the meeting, said "Jews who live in Russia feel comfortable and safe and will make their contribution to the development of the country." Putin and his guests discussed the life of Russia's Jewish community as well as proposals for building a museum of Jewish history and tolerance in Moscow. 

After the meeting, Lazar praised the government's efforts in encouraging religious tolerance and said that the situation with anti-Semitism was "gradually improving." Jewish leaders say an estimated 500,000 Jews live in Moscow and up to 1 million in the country as a whole.