While we are still enjoying the leisure of the summer vacation, many Jewish communities throughout Europe are already busying themselves with preparations for the oncoming High Holidays. Many communities have been attempting to invite senior government officials to their prayer services; however it is apparent that the Israeli foreign ministry is creating hardships.

Several European communities have aspired to invite their local, respective Israeli ambassadors to their synagogues for the High Holidays. These invitations were rejected since the ambassadors have been claiming that the foreign ministry does not approve of temporary accommodations in proximity to a synagogue, which forces the ambassadors to arrive to synagogue by car and thereby to offend the feelings of worshipers and members of the community.

Only this past week, a major Jewish community centre was approached by the Israeli embassy in their country, with a notification about the ambassador’s intention to take part in the Yom Kippur services at the synagogue located near the building of the Jewish community centre. The message was transmitted from the ambassador’s office in order to trigger plans for adequate security pre-arrangements. In addition to this, the ambassador noted that the only way he could arrive from his lodgings to the synagogue was by means of the embassy’s vehicle. “This is the case”, he claimed, “since the foreign ministry of Israel refuses to arrange for a temporary abode in proximity to the synagogue – despite repeated requests of the ambassadors”.

A close associate of the ambassador said that “There are many events to which the ambassador is invited and all of these are located in remote places and due to budget limitations it is necessary to commute to these places by car.

“It is more than problematic that an Israeli ambassador drives to Yom Kippur by car”, said this associate, “it is blatantly inappropriate since the community members are extremely offended by this”.

The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), the umbrella organization that unites rabbis and Jewish communities from all parts of Europe has been receiving many complaints about this issue – “it is unheard of that the foreign ministry of Israel instructs Jewish ambassadors to drive to synagogues by car while desecrating the most sacred day of the Jewish people” said the RCE’s spokesman. “This is a direct result of the refusal of the foreign ministry to provide for temporary accommodations near synagogues for the duration of Yom Kippur”, he added.

The response of the Israeli foreign ministry was: “According to the foreign ministry policies, an ambassador is eligible to receive representation funds precisely for this purpose. These representation funds are quite high and ought to suffice to cover costs for ambassadors to lease small rooms within walking distance of synagogues and – to cover all related expenses”.