Diaspora Affairs Minister Dr. Nachman Shai spoke at the gala event of Diaspora Week spoke at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem Monday night where he said that the Jewish people cannot be silent in the face of war crimes in Ukraine.
On the mass killing of civilians in Ukraine, Minister Shai said: " We have seen on our television screens in the last few days atrocities that have been committed on the soil of Ukraine.
"These actions can only be interpreted in one way: they are war crimes.
"We, the Jewish people and the State of Israel, cannot be silent in the face of these scenes. And we will not be silent".
On the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, he said: "The event this evening raises the banner of Jewish peoplehood and mutual responsibility."
"As diaspora affairs minister, my task is to establish a dialogue the Jews of the Diaspora and to make their voice heard at the table of Israel’s government and among decision makers.
"My task is to emphasize that relations between us are not a one-way street but reciprocal. A relationship of give and take.
"Our commitment is to look out for the Jewish interest around the entire world. To fight antisemitism and racism. To struggle against the erosion of Jewish identity. And to insist that any Jew who wants to live as a Jew can do freely and without fear.
"As I have said repeatedly in recent days, that the State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people
means we are not permitted to seal off our heart and be indifferent to the tragedies of other nations.
"Absorbing refugees at this time and adopting the right attitude to the other is a Jewish value.
"These are the values that shape us.
"These are the values that created us as a people.
"And these are the common values which we need to establish as the basis of our relationship with Diaspora Jewry," Minister Shai concluded.