At the opening plenary of the Jewish Agency’s board meeting, Natan Sharansky – the organization’s chairman – presented similar thoughts to those he enumerated last week at a session of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations.

In addition, Sharansky spoke highly of the initiatives of Birthright Israel, MASA and the Lapid programs and laid out an ambitious plan to train new Jewish leaders. Working in conjunction with Israel’s government, he proposed that the Jewish Agency train 1000 participants each year for five years in order to strengthen Jewish identity in the Diaspora.

Sharansky also announced that in the spirit of Tikkun Olam, the Jewish Agency will send an exploratory team to Haiti to examine possibilities where JAFI can be helpful.