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About the Forum

The Kyiv Jewish Forum is an event bringing together prominent leaders from all over the world to discuss and debate complex global and regional challenges facing the Jewish Community. Our goal is to inspire thought-provoking conversations that matter. 

This year’s first online edition of the Kyiv Jewish Forum, organized by the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine in partnership with the Jerusalem Post, will be broadcast online on 8-9 September.

The Forum’s guests will include the President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder, the US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee David Harris, the President of the Commonwealth Jewish Council Lord Mendelsohn, the renowned Israeli human right activist Natan Sharansky and many Ministers, members of Parliament and business leaders from around the world. 

The inaugural Kyiv Jewish Forum was held in 2019 and brought together over 500 leaders from Israel, the United States, Europe and Ukraine to debate and discuss the most pressing issues for the Ukrainian and global Jewry. 

Boris Lozhkin

President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine & Vice-President of the World Jewish Congress

“We are witnessing a true renaissance of Jewish life in Ukraine, and the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine is committed to contributing to the development of the global Jewish community. This is the reason why we are organizing the Kyiv Jewish Forum – a global platform for discussing and debating the challenges and opportunities which the world Jewry is facing, and exploring viable solutions”.

Speakers

Volodymyr Zelensky

President of Ukraine

Benny Gantz

Alternate Prime Minister of Israel

Mikhail Mirilashvili

President, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress

Ronald Lauder

President of the World Jewish Congress

Natan Sharansky

Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP)

Meyer Habib

Member of France National Assembly (UDI), Vice-President of the Foreign Affairs Committee

Haim Ben Yaakov

CEO, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress

Yuli Edelstein

Minister of Health

Elan S. Carr

US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism

Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn

Member of the UK House of Lords, International Relations and Defence Committee

Oleg Vyshniakov

Honorary Consul of the State of Israel in the Western region of Ukraine

Omer Yankelevich

Minister of Diaspora Affairs

Serhii Plokhiy

Professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute

Liz Schrayer

President, Schrayer & Associates

Ze’ev Hanin

Academic Chairman, Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies and Professor, Ariel University, Israel

Ambassador Dennis Ross

Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Katharina Von-Schnurbein

European Commission Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism

Amos Yadlin

Director, the Institute for National Security Studies

Robert Singer

Chairman, World ORT Board of Trustees ; Chairman, Spero Group

Aleksander Kwaśniewski

President of the Republic of Poland (1995 – 2005)

MK Elazar Stern

Major General (res.)

Marina Yudborovsky

CEO, Genesis Philanthropy Group

David Harris

CEO of the American Jewish Committee

Rabbi Arieh Folger

Founding member of the Rabbinical Court for Austria

Gennadiy Nadolenko

Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel

Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich

Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author and politician

Ted Deutch

U.S. Representative

yaakov katz

Editor-in-Chief

The Jerusalem Post

Dmytro Kuleba

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Andrew Baker

Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism

Joel Lion

Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ukraine

Vitalii Klitchko

Mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine

Yuri Kanner

President of the Russian Jewish Congress

Dave Sifry

Vice President of the Center for Technology and Society at the Anti-Defamation League

Mark Levin

Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry

Ze’ev Elkin

Minister of Higher and Complementary Education, Minister of Water Recourses

Emmanuil Grinshpun

First Vice President of Eurasian Jewish Congress, President of Moldovan Jewish Congress

 

Dr. Alon Liel

Former Israeli diplomat, Ambassador of Israel to South Africa (ret). 

Ilya Khrzanovskiy

Artistic Director of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center

Herb Keinon

Senior Contributing Editor, The Jerusalem Post

Anna Ahronheim

Military Correspondent, The Jerusalem Post

Maayan Hoffman

News Editor, The Jerusalem Post

Georgii Logvinskiy

Honorary member of PACE, member of Parliament of Ukraine (2014-2019

Albert Saharovich

General Director of Knesset (2016-2020)

Avner Shalev

Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate

Aaron Frenkel

Chairman, Euro-Asian Jewish Congres

Mattew Kupfer

KyivPost News Editor

Program

  • September 8
  • Opening speech by Boris Lozhkin, President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine
  • Address speech by Volodymyr Zelensky, President, Ukraine
  • Address by Benjamin Gantz, Alternate Prime Minister of Israel
  • In Conversation with Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress
  • In Conversation with Elan Carr, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
  • The far right or the far left: who is the greater threat to Jews?
    Speakers: Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn, Member of the UK House of Lords, International Relations and Defence Committee; Meyer Habib, Member of France National Assembly, Vice-President of the Foreign Affairs Committee
  • US & Israel Alliance: Is there a future for bipartisan support?
    Speakers: Liz Schrayer, President, Schrayer & Associates; Ted Deutch, U.S. Representative
  • Conversion to Judaism: Are we a people or a religion?
    Speakers: Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine; Rabbi Arie Folger, Founding Member of the Rabbinical Court for Austria; Elazar Stern, Member of Knesset, Israel
  • How AntiSemitic is Ukraine today?
    Speakers: Dmytro Kuleba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Joel Lion, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel in Ukraine; Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life; Andrew Baker, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, Director of International Jewish Affairs of the American Jewish Committee
  • Babyn Yar: Exploring the past for the better future
    Keynote speech by Natan Sharanskiy, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Speakers: Vitalii Klitchko, Mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine; Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of the Republic of Poland (1995 – 2005); Ilya Khrzanovskiy, Artistic Director of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center
  • 75 years after WW2: untold stories of Jewish heroes
    Interview with Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Speakers: Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate; Mark Levin, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry; Serhii Plokhiy, Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History, Director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University
  • September 9
  • Opening speech by Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine
  • Address by Omer Yankelevich, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Israel
  • Address by David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee
  • Address by Yuri Kanner, President of the Russian Jewish Congress (Ukrainian, broadcast at https://kyivjewishforum.com)
  • Address by Emmanuil Grinshpun, First Vice President of Eurasian Jewish Congress, President of Moldovan Jewish Congress
  • In Conversation with Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Minister of Health, Israel
  • In Conversation with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
  • In Conversation with Aleksandr Rodnyansky, Film director
  • Speech by Mikhail Mirilashvili, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress on Changing Jewish Identity in the post-soviet world
  • The Iranian Threat: How much time is really left?
    Speakers: Dennis Ross, Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Amos Yadlin, Director, Institute for National Security Studies
  • Combating Antisemitism: are we doing enough?
    Speakers: Dave Sifry, Vice-President of the Center for Technology and Society at the Anti-Defamation League; Alon Liel, Israeli Diplomat and Former Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Israel
  • Jewish leadership in the fight against Covid-19
    Speakers: Aaron Frenkel, Chairman of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Marina Yudborovsky, CEO, Genesis Philanthropy Group; Robert Singer, Chairman, World ORT Board of Trustees; Chairman, Spero Group.
  • Keynote speech by Mikhail Mirilashvili, President, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. Speakers: Ze’ev Hanin, Academic Chairman, Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies Graduate; Haim Ben Yaakov, CEO, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Simha Goldin, Professor, Tel Aviv University
  • Speakers: Ze’ev Elkin, Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Water resources, Israel; Gennadiy Nadolenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel; Oleg Vyshniakov, Honorary Consul of the State of Israel in the Western region of Ukraine; Albert Saharovich, General Director of Knesset, Israel (2016-2020)
  • Closing Speech by Boris Lozhkin