March 9, 2018 — Paris, France
An AJC leadership delegation has concluded a visit to London and Paris for a series of intensive conversations with government officials and Jewish community leaders on efforts to fight antisemitism and ensure Jewish community security. AJC, the premier global Jewish advocacy organization, maintains offices in several European capitals, and regularly visits and meets with officials in Central and Western European countries. The delegation also discussed current regional and global strategic challenges that the UK and France are facing.
“In London and Paris, the AJC delegation deepened our cooperation with Jewish community partners and expressed our concerns and our aspirations to senior government officials for transatlantic coordination, and support for democratic pluralism, Israeli-Palestinian peace, and the continuing need to thwart Iran's disruptive regional and strategic ambitions,” said Jason Isaacson, AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy, who, together with AJC Europe Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, accompanied the 20-person AJC delegation. René-Pierre Azria, AJC Executive Council member and AJC Paris Chair, chaired the delegation.
In London the AJC delegation met with Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD) President Jonathan Arkush and Chief Executive Gillian Merron, and with representatives of other key Jewish organizations in the UK, including Mike Whine, Director of Government and International Affairs at the Community Security Trust (CST); Josh Holt, President of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS); and Raymond Simonson, CEO of the Jewish Community Centre (JW3).
AJC and the BOD signed an association agreement in 2016. The delegation also met with Israeli Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev.
British officials the delegation met included Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa; Greg Hands, Minister of State for Trade Policy; Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government; and Jonathan Hellewell, the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser for Faith Communities.
Rising antisemitism in the UK was discussed with several Members of Parliament, notably with MP John Mann, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism. At the 2009 AJC Global Forum in Washington, D.C., Mann was honored with AJC’s Jan Karski Award. Mann reiterated at the time — as he has throughout a distinguished career in public service — his strong commitment to the fight against antisemitism.
Following the three-day visit to London, the AJC delegation spent three days in Paris, where AJC Paris and AJC Europe offices are located. “We are gratified by the concerns of British and French political leaders in prioritizing the fight against antisemitism, which in 2018 not only has no sign of weakening, but instead is gaining new prevalence,” said Rodan-Benzaquen.
Discussions about antisemitism and extremism dominated many of the meetings with government officials in France. AJC Paris recommendations helped the development of President Macron’s plan announced in November to combat radicalization among French youth.
The AJC delegation attended the CRIF dinner, where President Macron delivered a strong speech in which he reaffirmed his commitment to fighting antisemitism and praised the close ties between France and Israel. CRIF is the umbrella organization representing French Jews.
The AJC group met with French Minister of Interior Gérard Colomb; Préfet Frédéric Potier, Interministerial Delegate for the Fight Against Racism and Antisemitism (DILCRAH), and his predecessor Gilles Clavreul, who was the first to serve in that pioneering government position.
The group also met with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who was the first European mayor to sign on to Mayors United Against Antisemitism, an AJC initiative calling on municipal leaders across Europe to publicly address and take concrete actions against rising antisemitism. The full list of mayors who signed the statement two years ago included 189 from 31 European countries and 319 U.S. mayors.
In Paris, the AJC delegation also met with Benjamin Griveaux, government spokesman and close adviser to President Macron; Phillippe Etienne, President Macron’s diplomatic adviser; former president Nicolas Sarkozy; Israeli Ambassador Aliza Bin-Noun, senior French and U.S. diplomats, and Union of Jewish Students of France President Sacha Ghozlan.
“We reaffirmed in Paris strong relationships and our shared goals of combating extremism that threatens French society, not just the Jewish community,” said Rodan-Benzaquen. "In London, our meetings allowed us to assess the current situation in the UK regarding AJC priority concerns. While there is still much work to be done in that regard, we could see first-hand the strong government commitment to combating antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred.”
