A delegation from the State Agency for Religious Issues met with Mark Levin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NSCEJ), in Washington.

Zaza Vashakmadze, the Chairman of the Agency, particularly emphasized the 26-century, unique tradition of Georgian-Jewish relations and noted that since 2014, the Jewish community had been receiving financial support from the central budget of the Georgian State, as a symbolic and partial compensation for the damage caused during the Soviet period. According to the Chairman of the Agency, last year the annual financial assistance to the Jewish community increased from 150,000 GEL to 550,000 GEL. Zaza Vashakmadze also emphasized the fact that all synagogues (22 synagogues in total) confiscated by the Soviet totalitarian regime had been returned to the Jewish community.

Mark Levin thanked the delegation of the Agency for meeting and noted that the goal of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NSCEJ) was to make both American Jews and Americans aware of the rich history that existed in Georgia in relation to Jews. Mark Levin also stated that at the US Congressional hearing on “Global Anti-Semitism”, Georgia would certainly not be mentioned in a negative context.

At the end of the meeting, Zaza Vashakmadze invited Mark Levin to Georgia. The parties expressed their desire and readiness for future cooperation.

The meeting was attended by the Counselor to the Acting Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States, Sandro Inashvili, Head of the Legal Maintenance Office of the Agency, Davit Davitashvili, and Chief Specialist of the Legal Maintenance Office, Aleksandre Shekiladze.