NEWS Italian Minister of Interior Visits Jewish Community

By Adam Smulevich
 
The Interior Minister of Italy, Marco Minniti, visited the Jewish Community of Rome last Friday. The meeting was long and friendly, and offered an opportunity to discuss several topics (some publicly and others privately): the security of Jewish sites, the fight against growing hatred and radical Islam, but also the positive values that are to be defended and shared with the whole of society for a peaceful and democratic future.
 
Arriving to the Community, Minniti was welcomed by the President of the Jewish Community Ruth Dureghello, the Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, the President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni.
 
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister said: “The Jewish community is a piece of our history, but it is also part of our future. By protecting this community, we protect democracy as a whole.”
 
His words were deeply appreciated by the Jewish representatives. 
 
“Even at this delicate moment, we feel that the institutions on our side. We are grateful for that,” Dureghello said during his tour of the synagogue, the final act of the visit: the synagogue, as stressed by Chief Rabbi Di Segni, is not just a “museum but also a living place”.
 
The hope expressed by President Di Segni is that the visit to the Jews of Rome could be “the beginning of a series of meetings with other local Communities.”