NEW YORK/JERUSALEM (EJP)---Around 150 heads of Jewish communities from around the world will gather end August in Jerusalem for a two-day meeting of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Governing Board.

On 31 August and 1 September 2010.  The gathering on 31 August and 1 September will focus on ways to fight the growing threats against Israel.

 “Everywhere, we are witnessing concerted efforts to attack the legitimacy of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said ahead of the meeting.

He said boycott, sanctions and divestment campaigns “are becoming prevalent.”

“Israeli academics, authors, artists and sportspeople are being banned from participating in events; the media often presents a one-sided view of developments, and Israel is almost always being singled out for blame,” he added,

“We will be developing proactive initiatives to address these issues and we will underline the need for Diaspora Jewry’s continued unwavering solidarity with Israel in a global environment that is increasingly hostile to those positions.”

The gathering will be addressed by senior statesmen from Israel and abroad.

Writer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Elie Wiesel will be presented with the first World Jewish Congress “Guardian of Jerusalem” award in recognition of his lifetime accomplishments on behalf of the Jewish people.

Members of the Israeli Haiti emergency rescue operation will receive a special award for their heroic humanitarian efforts in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

Several Israeli leaders have confirmed their participation, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, and opposition leader and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer and Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau also confirmed their attendance.

Former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar will give a keynote address to delegates about the recently launched 'Friends of Israel Initiative' (www.friendsofisraelinitiative.org).

The 150 leaders representing all major Jewish communities in the world will adopt the future priorities and action plans of the organization.

Among the topics to be discussed is also the difficult situation faced by certain Jewish communities like in Sweden and Venezuela.

The New York-based World Jewish Congress is a body representing Jewish communities in 92 countries around the world.