“Foreign Minister of Italy Franco Frattini has stated outright that Italy will not participate in the Durban Conference,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Yitzchak Herzog told Jewish leaders Wednesday at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “We greatly appreciate the strong stand taken by the Conference of Presidents.”
Herzog announced that Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told him that his country will not participate in the Durban Conference. “Dealing with racism is an essential component of the State of Israel, part of the reason of our being. Durban I flowed into a meeting of hatred, blasphemy and a diatribe against the Jewish people. It is also very troubling that the Durban II Conference is scheduled to begin on Holocaust Memorial Day,” Herzog added, showing his appreciation for the Conference of Presidents’ strong stand.
“Canada was the first nation to announce a ban on participation in the Durban II Conference. We are very pleased that Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has become a staunch ally in the global fight against anti-Semitism. President Barack Obama has a different view. He wishes to engage the drafting committee. We will need to wait to see if they succeed,” he added, stating that other world leaders are waiting for the American response.