Hundreds of Jewish and Zionist leaders from across the globe are meeting at the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency in Kiev, Ukraine, the first time they have met outside of Israel.
Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky said at the opening plenary Sunday that since the fall of the Iron Curtain, more than a million Jews from the former Soviet Union have made Aliyah with the assistance of world Jewry, whom he praised for their contribution to the immigration of Soviet Jewry.
Minister for Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landover noted the important contribution that immigrants from the former Soviet Union, including doctors, artists, scientists and musicians had made to strengthen the State of Israel.
The Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine, Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, said at the opening plenary that the conference was one of the most important events in the 25 year history of the revitalized Jewish community in Kiev.