Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, arrived in Madrid last night for a two-day visit with Spain’s Jewish community and political leaders, the WJC reported here today. It is the first meeting on Spanish soil between a WJC president and the head of government since the beginning of the Franco era almost 50 years ago.
Bronfman was invited to pay an official visit to Spain by Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez when they met in New York last June during the Prime Minister’s state visit to the U.S. At the same time, Samuel Toledano, president of the Federacion De Comunidades Israelitas De Espana, the central representative body of Spanish Jewry, extended an invitation to the WJC president to address the body.
Israel Singer, WJC executive director, who is accompanying Bronfman, said a principal aim of the visit is to “promote the process of ‘normalization’ of relations between Spain and world Jewry.” WJC sources in New York confirmed that the question of establishing relations between Spain and Israel would be discussed.
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