Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on Russia’s Jews to “pack their bags” and move to Israel at a meeting with community leaders during a visit to Moscow, AFP reports.

“Pack your bags, come home, we will all live together in Israel,” Olmert said during a visit to the synagogue and community centre at Marina Roshcha in Moscow.
Russia has one of the biggest Jewish populations in the world.

“There are problems, sometimes there are wars, sometimes it’s dangerous… but we will help you solve all these problems,” Olmert said, referring to problems in Israel.
In his speech, Olmert expressed gratitude to President Vladimir Putin, whom he met on Wednesday, for the Russian leader’s “warm embrace” of the Jewish community.

Russia’s chief rabbi Berl Lazar and Lev Levayev, a diamond and property tycoon who has helped fund Russian Jewish groups, attended the elaborate ceremony in Moscow attended by several hundred people.

According to various estimates, Russia has from 230,000 to 10 million Jewish residents.

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