President Isaac Herzog called on Israeli authorities to bolster support for immigrants from Russia and other former Soviet states and praised the resilience of Jewish communities across the region, while speaking on Thursday night to hundreds of educators and activists from the Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC) of the Former Soviet Union gathered in Jerusalem.
“In every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us,” Herzog said, invoking the Passover text to frame the challenges facing Jews in international forums and the current rise in global antisemitism. He linked his remarks to a historic milestone this week: the 50th anniversary of his grandfather Haim Herzog’s dramatic repudiation at the United Nations of the “Zionism is racism” resolution, an act the younger Herzog described as part of a continuing struggle for Jewish dignity and security.
“My grandfather [the late Rabbi Issac Herzog] said that winds of change were blowing in the Soviet Union, yet that Jews had the right to preserve their heritage and faith as they wished, including the freedom to emigrate and reunite with their people in Israel,” the president told the audience, saluting communities across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. He recalled the battles of the refusenik movement, the immigration waves of the 1970s and 1980s, and the more recent arrivals shaped by war and upheaval.
Addressing the hostage crisis, Herzog added a somber note. “This evening we will receive another hostage who will be brought to burial in Israel,” he said. “We do not yet know who it is, but we want to see all of them come home, to burial in Israel,” he continued, underscoring the lingering pain of families awaiting closure.
The event, a salute to FJC’s network of schools, synagogues, welfare initiatives, and youth programs across the former Soviet space, featured personal testimony illustrating the stakes for families uprooted by conflict. Fourteen-year-old Lea Delinko from Zhytomyr, Ukraine, described her journey from the FJC’s Alumim children’s home, through wartime flight, to a new life in Israel.
“I knew I was Jewish but did not know what that meant… until my life changed for the better,” she said. “I chose my Jewish name, Lea. It symbolizes the Jewish people and our ancient roots. I am still young, but I already know: we are a special people. It is an immense pride to be Jewish.” Delinko recounted escaping the war, arriving in Israel, and being hosted in Nes Harim before settling with the Chabad community in Ashkelon.
'Reaching every Jew across the globe'
Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar urged activists “to reach every Jew, even the one who lives in a small town, in a village, who thinks he is alone.” He also disclosed a pointed exchange from years past with former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Summoning Lazar and FJC president Lev Leviev, Sharon “shouted” that their sole mission should be to “bring one million Jews to Israel,” arguing that community institutions should be subordinated to that goal. “We explained that these Jews had lived 80 years under communism; their identity had not fully emerged,” Lazar said, adding that the FJC’s role was to help awaken and strengthen that identity so aliyah would be sustained and successful.
Speakers throughout the evening saluted partners supporting vulnerable Jews across the region. Yael Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, honored the legacy of her late father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, and pledged continued cooperation on welfare programs, including food aid for seniors and families in distress.
Founded more than three decades ago with support from Leviev’s Ohr Avner Foundation, the FJC coordinates hundreds of affiliated communities and educational projects across the former Soviet Union in partnership with local leaders and international donors. The Jerusalem salute capped a four-day conference in the capital that addressed education, social services, and community security for hundreds of thousands of Jews spread across a vast geographic area.
Herzog closed by tying the movement of history to present responsibilities. Citing the lessons of his grandfather’s stand at the UN and the sacrifices of Soviet Jewry activists, he pressed for concrete assistance to immigrants and stronger ties with the still-vibrant Jewish communities in Russia and neighboring states. Memory, he stressed, must translate into policy.
“We salute you,” Herzog told the delegates. “We remember the struggles that shaped my generation, we remember the immigrants, and we remember the heroes whom the war has taught us to know — immigrants and children of immigrants who fulfilled the dream of aliyah and paid a heavy price.”