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Israel’s first president commemorated in his birthplace in Brest region

 

A ceremony was held in Motal on November 9 to pay tribute to Israel’s first president who was born in the village in what is now the Brest region.

The event took place on the 60th anniversary of the death of Chaim Weizmann, who was elected Israeli president on February 1, 1949 and served in the post until his death in 1952.

Israeli diplomats, members of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, local government officials and civil society activists gathered in the house where Weizmann spent his childhood, the Israeli embassy’s press office told BelaPAN. The traditional Jewish prayer Kaddish was said in his memory.

Speaking at the ceremony, Israeli Ambassador Yosef Shagal noted the importance of Weizmann for both the Israeli and Belarusian peoples. He emphasized the need to remember all outstanding Belarusian-born Jews, including Nobel prize winner and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and another ex-prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir.

A Weizmann memorial is to be built in Motal. // BelaPAN