Ceremony of outstanding importance in Netanya, Israel
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Israel for the specific purpose of dedicating the monument of victory commemorating the triumph of the Red Army over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Soviet soldiers were the first to meet the survivors after they liberated the concentration camps.
The dedication ceremony will take place in the presence of Israeli President Shimon Peres and Keren Hayesod leadership, headed by Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg, World Chairman, and Yohanna Arbib-Perugia, Chair of the World Board of Trustees, together with Israeli political and business leaders.
The construction of the monument was made possible with the help of special donations from Keren Hayesod, in response to a special request by the Government of Israel, following a meeting in Moscow between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and then Prime Minister - and today President - of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in 2010.
Keren Hayesod funded the absorption of the Holocaust survivors in Israel, providing housing, jobs and other assistance. The construction of the monument is in many ways the closing of a circle by paying respects, on behalf of Keren Hayesod and the Jewish people, to the soldiers who liberated the camps.