(JTA) — Venezuelan Jewish leaders have requested a meeting with President Hugo Chavez to discuss the increase in anti-Semitic attacks in the state-run media.
The presidential palace said a meeting would be arranged in about 10 days, Haaretz reported.
Assertions that Jews are damaging the country’s economy are among the verbal and written attacks in the media.
"We are not saying this is the government policy," David Bittan Obadia, deputy chairman of the Jewish community of Venezuela, told Haaretz last Friday. "However, [the government] is capable of putting a stop to the phenomenon. It has the tools. We will be very direct and adamant in the things we will tell the president."
Chavez has attacked the Jewish community of Venezuela in speeches during his 12-year tenure in office. He also has attacked Israel.
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