Israeli minister meeting with DC Jewish leaders canceled

A meeting scheduled on June 8 in Washington, D.C., between Amichai Chikli, the Israeli diaspora affairs minister, and Jewish leaders was canceled. The local Jewish Federation cited a scheduling conflict, while Hebrew media reports noted that rabbis who were to be part of the meeting had dropped out, and a protest was scheduled.

Maariv reported that the invited rabbis announced that they would not participate, and a group called UnXeptable-Saving the Israeli Democracy had said it would protest the off-the-record roundtable, which was to be hosted in the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s North Bethesda offices .

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the Israeli embassy were to be co-hosts.

UnXeptable, which planned to protest outside the Federation building, shared a tweet containing a screenshot of an email from JCRC Israel Action Center Director Adam Odesser, citing “schedule changes.”

The cancelation comes amid other recently-nixed meetings, with Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat in Boston, and with Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis in Los Angeles.

But a Jewish Federations of North America spokeswoman told JNS that two prior meetings with Chikli took place earlier in the week in the Federations’ New York offices.

https://twitter.com/jfederations/status/1666789964560977930

Also earlier in the week, anti-Israeli government protesters harassed Knesset member Simcha Rothman, of the Religious Zionism Party, on June 3 in New York City, with the New York Police Department closing a complaint filed against him after he pulled a megaphone away from a protester trailing him in Manhattan.

More than 40,000 people gathered on June 4 for the “Celebrate Israel Parade,” marking New York City’s solidarity with the Jewish State and celebrating the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding.