On Sept. 22 chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament Artūras Paulauskas met with Israeli President M.Katsav.

The head of the Lithuanian Parliament emphasized that M.Katsav's visit was very important in developing a dialogue between Lithuania and Israel. He noted the need to activate inter-Parliamentary relations between the two states.

Their meeting included discussions on Israel's plan to set up an embassy in Lithuania. M.Katsav confirmed that such a plan exists and that he intends to discuss it at the Knesset.

They also spoke about the situation in Israel following the closing down of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, ways of guaranteeing peaceful relations between the Palestinians and Jews, and other questions of international politics.

As planned, the Israeli President also gave a speech at the Lithuanian Parliament.

"I come from a region in which the three monotheistic religions were born:  Judaism 4,000 years ago, Christianity 2,000 years ago and Islam 1,400 years ago.  I belong to a nation which over thousands of years suffered persecutions, expulsions, exiles, the Inquisition - which reached their climax in the terrible Holocaust in which 6 million of our brothers were murdered in a terrible plan, the 'final solution', the annihilation of the Jewish people." 

M.Katsav reminded the members of Parliament that, "we, the Jewish people never stopped praying to return to Israel... The immigrations of Jews to Israel from all over the world never stopped." 

He continued: "There is an ancient bond between the Jewish people and Lithuania.  The establishment of the Jewish community here took place even before the 14th century... In your country many houses of learning (yeshibot) flourished, and it was here that rabbi Eliyahu Ben Solomon Zalman, one of the spiritual giants of the Jewish people, known throughout the world as the Vilna Gaon, lived. 

In the 19th century Vilnius became an important center of the enlightenment and of Yiddish and Hebrew literature. The Mizrahi and Bund movements were established in Vilnius, and from the beginning of the 20th century the city was an important center of the Zionist movement.

But Lithuanian soil also saw the most terrible happenings.

The magnificent community, which on the eve of the Second World War numbered approximately 250,000 people, was annihilated under the brutal Nazi regime, and most of the Jewish community was killed in the terrible Holocaust.  Unfortunately, many Lithuanians were accomplices in the act of annihilation...

The trauma of the Holocaust will accompany the Jewish people forever. There is no forgiveness and no forgetting of the Holocaust.  Many Jewish people still bear the numbers tattooed on their arms by the Nazis.  The mental scars have been passed on also to the second and third generations... The Jewish people continue to bear the pain and sorrow.

We and you, the post-war generation, are obliged to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and to pass them on from generation to generation. We, the Jewish people, believed that after the Nazi crimes, the world would not permit anti-Semitism to raise its head... We are now facing a wave of anti-Semitism unknown since the end of the Second World War - a wave which is accompanied by aggressive incitement. The anti-Semites are taking advantage of modern technology and media, globalization and democracy in order to spread anti-Semitism to an extent and an intensity which was previously unknown.

Anti-Semitism is a tragedy for the Jewish people but also a moral and historical failure of humankind, a failure of world leaders and a failure of the free world...

We are full of appreciation for the governments of Europe, including the government of Lithuania, for the steps they are taking to fight anti-Semitism.  I commend President Adamkus for his determination and resolve to fight anti-Semitic incidents.  But it is not enough.  Determined steps must be taken by legislation, education and influencing public opinion...

With the establishment of the State of Israel we had to contend with the Arab world's attempts to annihilate us.  Since then we have absorbed approximately a million Holocaust survivors from Europe, a million Jews from Islamic countries and from the Communist bloc, and we have provided all of them with housing, education, health care and welfare...  Israel is one of the world leaders in research, science, technology, etc., despite the wars, terror and bloodshed forced on us since our independence.

In the past 12 years Israel has made a historical change in its relations towards the Palestinians. The turning point began with the Oslo Agreement in 1993, and continued with the acceptance of the Roadmap three years ago, in which Israel expressed its readiness to support the establishment of a Palestinian country....

Reconciliation and peace with the Palestinians are possible... It is an historical opportunity which must not be missed. But the State of Israel will no longer tolerate bloodshed in our streets, coffee houses, restaurants, discotheques, bus stops and buses.  We will, under all circumstances, protect the rights of our citizens to live without fear of terror...

I congratulate Lithuania on its renewed independence, on its joining the European Union and NATO, and praise it on its honourable international position. Lithuania and Israel have friendly and good relations. Both countries are aware of the price of independence, and believe in the values of freedom and democracy.
Our common history is full of ups and downs, progress and prosperity, destruction and disaster.  We have seen occupation and fighting for independence.  Today we are looking ahead in order to build together a better and safer world for the next generations...

Israel is very interested in promoting relations with Lithuania in the political, economic, scientific and cultural fields.  I believe that a great potential exists for cooperation between us."

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That same day President M.Katsav met and spoke with prime minister A.Brazauskas. They exchanged views on concrete directions for cooperation between Lithuania and Israel, and had lunch together at the Kineret restaurant, where they both signed the guest book.

Newspaper of the Jewish Community of Lithuania “Jerusalem of Lithuania” 2005.