ECAJ Chief of Staff Lynzi Bennun and Head of Legal Simone Abel joined senior rep­res­ent­at­ives from more than 50 Jewish com­munit­ies around the globe for the World Jewish Congress 11^th National Community Directors’ Forum in the Neth­er­lands.

The con­fer­ence was dedicated to strength­en­ing cooper­a­tion and address­ing the evolving chal­lenges con­front­ing Jewish life today, in par­tic­u­lar the continued rise of antisemitism, violent extremism, online rad­ic­al­isa­tion, devel­op­ments in AI, and relations with national gov­ern­ments.  

Simone took part in the opening panel session focusing on the sig­ni­fic­ance of the Royal Com­mis­sion and communal resi­li­ence post Bondi. She spoke alongside Ruben Vis from the the Organ­isa­tion of Jewish Com­munit­ies in the Neth­er­lands, Marcos Peckel from the Con­fed­er­a­tion of Jewish Com­munit­ies of Colombia and Michael Wegier from the Board of Deputies of British Jews on Jewish community realities after 7 October.

WJC cap: ECAJ Chief of Staff Lynzi Bennun and Head of Legal Simone Abel joined senior rep­res­ent­at­ives from more than 50 Jewish com­munit­ies around the globe for the World Jewish Congress 11^th National Community Directors’ Forum in the Neth­er­lands.

The two-day con­fer­ence was dedicated to strength­en­ing cooper­a­tion and address­ing the evolving chal­lenges con­front­ing Jewish life today, in par­tic­u­lar the continued rise of antisemitism, violent extremism, online rad­ic­al­isa­tion, devel­op­ments in AI, and relations with national gov­ern­ments.  

Simone took part in the opening panel session, Jewish Community Realities After 7 October, alongside Ruben Vis from the the Organ­isa­tion of Jewish Com­munit­ies in the Neth­er­lands, Marcos Peckel from the Con­fed­er­a­tion of Jewish Com­munit­ies of Colombia and Michael Wegier from the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Other sessions focused on the situation in Ukraine and Belarus, the
human­it­ari­an situation following the Venezuela earth­quake, the sus­tain­ab­il­ity of community insti­tu­tions, access to kosher food, threats to Brit Milah (ritual cir­cum­cision) rising security costs, lead­er­ship suc­ces­sion, engaging younger gen­er­a­tions, strength­en­ing Jewish education and sup­port­ing schools, and investing in pro­fes­sion­al staff. Leaders also exchanged practical ideas for closer cooper­a­tion between com­munit­ies and more effective sharing of resources and expertise across borders.