Commonwealth and global Jewish leaders meet at the Lords

The heads of two major global Jewish bodies met at the House of Lords to discuss issues facing the UK and global communities. 

The chair of the Commonwealth Jewish Council, Lord Mendelsohn, welcomed Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress yesterday, to talk about tackling anti-Semitism, the Middle East and building a stronger relationship. 

Mendelsohn praised Lauder’s leadership and diplomatic expertise as having “driven laudable progress combating anti-Semitism in many corners of the world.”

Lauder, who has been president of WJC since 2007, holds an impressive range of former roles. These include Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs, President of the Jewish National Fund and Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The CJC chair added: “His efforts and those of the WJC in combatting BDS in America and elsewhere provide important lessons for the UK and for other Commonwealth countries. He has a wealth of experience on a wide breadth of issues which we are keen to draw from.”

Lauder was “delighted to meet Lord Mendelsohn and to hear of the ongoing work of the Commonwealth Jewish Council.”

He said the WJC “is keen to build links with the Council and to work together to combat BDS and antisemitism and to work towards strengthening ties between Jewish communities and establishing closer linkages between both diplomats and Jewish community leaders.”