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The Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency meets three times a year in Jerusalem but its chairman, Natan Sharansky (picture), intends to convene it once a year outside of Israel, in cities with Jewish Agency programs and activities.
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JERUSALEM (EJP)---The Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors meetings planned to be held at the end of the month in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be relocated to Jerusalem, Natan Sharansky, the agency’s chairman, announced.
The Jewish Agency started the preparations for the meetings three months ago and coordinated with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and with the office of the Governor of St. Petersburg.
The choice of the Russian city as a venue, at Sharansky's initiative, was meant to strengthen the connection between the Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union and the Jewish Agency and Israel.
But two weeks ago the Russian authorities advised for the first time about some outstanding issues regarding the legal status of the Jewish Agency in Russia.
The Jewish Agency immediately submitted all the required documentation and have since been waiting for an official response. It received numerous unofficial messages but no clear answer.
Last Wednesday, a message was received via the office of the Israeli Ambassador in Moscow that the Russian Foreign Ministry still maintains that the legal status of the Jewish Agency in Russia is not adequate for convening a meeting of the Board of Governors.
The Jewish Agency then decided to relocate the Board meetings to Jerusalem.
The Board meets three times a year in Jerusalem but Sharansky intends to convene it once a year outside of Israel, in cities with Jewish Agency programs and activities.