News

On 19-21 September, during a working visit to Israel, Lithuanian Minister of Culture Arūnas Gelūnas met with Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, and paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.

On 20 September, A.Gelūnas met with Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport L.Livnat, presented Lithuanian projects dedicated to the commemoration of the Jewish cultural heritage in the country and invited L.Livnat to come to Lithuania in 2012. The Israeli Minister underlined that she appreciated well the efforts of Lithuania to honour the citizens of Lithuania who became victims of the Holocaust. During the meeting, the officials agreed to extend bilateral cooperation in the field of culture.

In Israel, the Minister also met with Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev and laid a wreath of flowers for the victims of the Holocaust at the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem.

At the ceremony, A.Gelūnas emphasized importance of close bilateral relations between Lithuania and Israel, and an extensive cooperation between the two countries in various fields. A.Shalev said that Yad Vashem aimed to develop Lithuanian-Israeli relations, the evidence of which was the partnership agreement with the Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania that had been signed by the museum.

Moreover, A.Shalev regretted that due to recent publications in the Israeli press, official Lithuanian representatives did not attend the event at Yad Vashem.

Later, A.Gelūnas participated in the event dedicated to the National Memorial Day for the Genocide of the Lithuanian Jews at Israel’s Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. The Minister emphasized the importance of giving meaning to the historical memory in the Lithuanian-Israeli bilateral relations.

The event, during which the virtual exhibition “Rescued Lithuanian Jewish Child Tells about the Shoah” was launched, was attended by Chairman of the Knesset Group for Interparliamentary Relations with Lithuania Zeev Bielski, Lithuanian Ambassador to Israel Darius Degutis and Chairman of the Directorate of Israel’s Diaspora Museum Avinoam Armoni.

During the working visit to Israel, the Minister also met with representatives from the Jerusalem Cinematheque and the Cameri Theatre, with organizers of the Jerusalem International Book Fair and visited the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance. During the meeting, the officials discussed opportunities for implementing joint Lithuanian-Israeli cultural projects.