Israel’s Ministry of the Diaspora has invited the public input for a special advisory committee which will submit recommendations on if and how to develop relations with large groups around the world with ties to the Jewish people.

“Over the past few years there has been an increasing awareness of large groups of people who are not Jewish by any definition but who have some type of connection to the Jewish people.” said Dvir Kahana, the Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora.

“Some of these groups want some kind association with the Jewish people and/or Israel which raise the question of what ties the government should have with them. As the Diaspora Ministry is in charge of the connection between the Jewish communities in the Diaspora and the State of Israel, we decided to convene this committee to look into what kind of policies should be put in place regarding these groups, if any.” said Kahana.

The committee is comprised of Chairman Dr. Ofir Ha’Ivri, Professor Benjamin Ish Shalom, Adv. Zvi Hauser, Ms. Fiamma Nirenstein, Dr. Einat Wilf and Adv. Rotem Yadlin. The committee is scheduled to meet twelve times and has been charged with submitting its recommendations to the Ministry by the end of February 2016.

Anyone interested in relaying information to the committee is invited to write to the following email address: zika@pmo.gov.il.