Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC) President, Jack Terpins told Argentina-based Jewish News Agency (AJN) on Thursday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will send an ambassador to Israel "to re-establish friendly ties".
A few hours after the "historic" meeting held yesterday between world Jewish leaders and the Venezuelan President, Terpins expressed his "satisfaction" over the success of the meeting.
"The meeting couldn’t have been better", the head of the LAJC said, stressing that now "a new era has begun, one of a more cordial encounter between the Jewish community and Hugo Chávez".
According to Terpins, in addition to sending a Venezuelan ambassador to Israel, the President of Venezuela will appoint four special aids to maintain a direct contact with the local Jewish community "in case there is any anti-Semitism incident" in the country.
Regarding the influence of Iran in the region, Terpins said "that is an internal problem between Venezuela and Iran" and he noted that the reason that motivated the meeting was the fact that the LAJC and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) were "concerned over the relationship between the Jewish community and Hugo Chavez".
"I believe it couldn’t have been better, Hugo Chávez will strengthen the relationship with Israel the best way possible", Terpins said referring to the sending of an ambassador to Israel.
In August 2006, Chávez ordered the Venezuelan ambassador in Tel Aviv to leave Israel, arguing that it was "indignant to see how Israel continues running over, bombing, murdering, and tearing to pieces so many innocent people, kids and women, with the ‘gringo’ (American) planes they got with the support of the United States".
The meeting held yesterday in Caracas was also attended by WJC President, Ronald Lauder; WJC Treasurer, Eduardo Elsztain; the President of the Venezuelan Jewish Community, Abraham Levi Benshimol; and the Argentinean Ambassador to the United States, Héctor Timerman.
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