President Anwar Sadat of Egypt has invited Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, to pay an official visit later this fall, it was announced by the WJC. The invitation is due to be formally extended during their scheduled private meeting tomorrow at the residence of the Egyptian Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid, the WJC said.
Folowing their discussions the two will be joined by a delegation of American Jewish leaders headed by Howard Squadron, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, whom Bronfman has invited to lead the group.
WILL DISCUSS A NUMBER OF ISSUES
In their talks, Sadat and Bronfman will discuss a number of issues of mutual concern and will take the opportunity to review general developments since their last private meeting at the time of Sadat’s previous visit to the United States in April, 1980.
Among the matters expected to be taken up are: progress in the restoration of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in ancient Cairo, Sadat’s proposal for the creation of an interreligious center comprising a mosque, church and synagogue in the Egyptian capital, and affiliation of the Egyptian Jewish community to the World Jewish Congress.
In this connection, Bronfman has announced his readiness and great pleasure at accepting Sadat’s invitation to visit Egypt — currently scheduled for five days in late October — at which time he said he looks forward to having the affiliation of the Egyptian Jewish community into the WJC and its 66-nation member communities formalized.
Commenting today, Bronfman praised Sadat as a man of courage and vision while urging the redoubling of efforts in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East in faithful adherence to the process begun at Camp David. He affirmed the “constant and unshakable solidarity of world Jewry with the State of Israel” and reiterated the unanimous support which the WJC Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem had expressed for the Camp David accords, adding that “any departure from the spirit of Camp David constitutes a retrogressive step and is wholly unacceptable.” After their initial talks tomorrow, Sadat and Bronfman will be joined by Ashraf Ghorbal, Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States, for further discussions with the delegation of American Jewish leaders.
JEWISH LEADERS IN THE DELEGATION
Jewish leaders in the delegation (in addition to those listed in the Aug. 5 Daily News Bulletin) are, according to the WJC, Julius Berman, president, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Yehuda Hellman, executive director, Conference of Presidents; Charlotte Jacobson, chairman, World Zionist Organization-American Section; Nathan Perlmutter, national director, Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; Rabbi Arthur Schneier, chairman, American Section, WJC; Israel Singer, executive director, WJC; Jack Spitzer, president, B’nai B’rith International; Maynard Wishner, president, American Jewish Committee; Rabbi Walter Wurzberger, president, Synagogue Council of America.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
