LIVORNO – Jewish community and other groups solidarize with twin city Bat Yam

Who knows if someone in the municipality of Livorno (Tuscany) will remember that the city has been twinned with Bat Yam. On Monday, the city on Israel’s Mediterranean Sea coast was hit hard by Iranian missiles. The attack resulted in around ten victims, including two children. In the meantime, a joint message has been released from the Jewish Community of Livorno, the Jewish-Christian Friendship Association, ADEI-WIZO, B’nai B’rith, and the local Italy-Israel Association, addressed to Tzvika Brot, the Mayor of Bat Yam. The message expresses “solidarity in this difficult moment, along with our condolences to the victims of the Iranian attack and wishes for a full recovery for the injured.” 

According to Vittorio Mosseri, outgoing president of Livorno Jewish Community, “we could have addressed this message to any other city in Israel, a country that is being threatened in its very existence, although some still refuse to understand what has been happening in the Middle East in recent months.”

Bat Yam was the first Israeli city to form a friendship with an Italian city. Since then, there has been a Livorno Street in Bat Yam, and in Livorno a street in the Ardenza neighborhood is named after Bat Yam.