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World Leaders attend Holocaust Memorial Event in Jerusalem

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What happened: Nearly 50 world leaders, including heads of state and royalty have arrived in Israel for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum this afternoon at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance centre to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Vice President Mike Pence arrived this morning and Prince Charles arrived last night.

  • A large official dinner was held last night at the President’s Residence, with Rivlin saying: “This is a historic gathering, not only for Israel and the Jewish People, but for all humanity. This evening as we remember the victims of the Holocaust, and World War Two, we also mark the victory of freedom and human dignity.”
  • Most of the attention during the day was focused on French President Emmanuel Macron as he met with Netanyahu, opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, Rivlin, and even IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi (who joined the Rivlin meeting). Last night Macron travelled to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
  • Macron caused some controversy for an altercation, filmed by journalists, between himself and Israeli police at the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem’s Old City. Macron demanded Israeli officers remain outside the church and respect France’s extraterritorial status there.
  • Jared Kushner, adviser to US President Donald Trump, cancelled his scheduled visit yesterday blaming bad weather in Switzerland.​​​​​​​

Context: The two-day event is being billed in the Israeli media as the largest and most extensive diplomatic gathering ever on Israeli soil, reinforcing the sense of Israel’s growing presence on the world stage.

  • Polish President Andrzej Duda is boycotting the event because he was not invited to speak. Poland will be holding its annual remembrance event in Auschwitz on 27 January. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticised the decision to give President Putin such a prominent role at the event in Jerusalem and defended his 2018 comments about Jewish perpetrators of the Holocaust on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
  • Some criticism was directed at the scale of the event and fears that the purpose – the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau – could be slightly lost amidst the frenetic diplomacy and geopolitical spats.
  • Jared Kushner’s cancellation in particular raised eyebrows amidst growing speculation that the US is getting ready to publish its  long-delayed plan for Israeli-Palestinian talks, perhaps as early as next week.
  • Putin’s meeting with Netanyahu is an important domestic story as it could lead to the release of an Israeli woman, Naama Issachar, imprisoned in Russia since last year and sentenced to seven and a half years for drug smuggling. Putin is widely expected to pardon Issachar, with her mother set to join the meeting with Netanyahu. In return, Israel will reportedly allow the Russian Orthodox Church to expand its presence in various parts of Jerusalem.
  • US Vice President Mike Pence will visit the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall this afternoon before a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu at the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Looking ahead: All eyes will be on Israel-Russia ties and what, if anything, comes out of the meeting between Netanyahu and Putin. The two leaders will plant a tree in a Jerusalem park in honour of the veterans and victims of the siege of Leningrad. Later in the day Netanyahu, Rivlin, Putin, Prince Charles, Pence, Macron and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will all speak at the official Yad Vashem ceremony.

Prince Charles is on his first official visit to Israel. He will plant an English oak tree in the garden of the President’s residence when he meets President Rivlin today and will tomorrow travel to Bethlehem to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and visit the Church of the Nativity.