Israeli president meets Turkiye’s Jewish community at Istanbul's Neve Shalom Synagogue

By Gulsum Incekaya and Burak Dag

ISTANBUL (AA) – On a state visit to Turkiye, Israel's president on Thursday met with the members and representatives of the country's Jewish community at a synagogue in Istanbul.

Isaac Herzog entered the Neve Shalom Synagogue and Culture Center Synagogue amid traditional Jewish musical horn shofars and the song Shalom Aleichem (Peace be with you), a staple song for the eve of the Sabbath.

Opening his speech with a prayer for Ukrainian refugees, Herzog said: "On this special occasion, I want to pray with you for our brothers and sisters in the Ukrainian Jewish community."

He also lit candles in memory of Jews killed in the synagogue in terror attacks in 1986 and 2003.

He also expressed his happiness to meet members of the Turkish Jewish Community.

He went on to say that his late father, Israel's sixth President Chaim Herzog, and his mother Aura Herzog had visited Neve Shalom in 1992 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Jews' expulsion from Spain and taking refuge in the Ottoman Empire.

Turkiye, a largely Muslim but multi-faith country, has had Jewish communities since ancient times, and many expelled Spanish, and Portuguese Jews were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Istanbul, in particular, still retains a Jewish community. Turkiye is also known for taking in rescued Jews during World War II.

Herzog also added that his grandfather and former Israeli Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog had come to Turkiye to try to save European Jews from the hands of Nazis.

Following the prayer on Twitter, the Israeli president said that he was "moved to recite over the Torah at Istanbul's Neve Shalom Synagogue and to meet the Turkish Jewish community."

Herzog on Wednesday met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkiye's capital Ankara, in a visit seen as a step towards moving to improved relations with Turkiye.