During a ceremony hosted at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Matthew Bronfman of the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Executive Council presented H.M. the King with the Award. Meaning “bridge” in Hebrew, the Gesher Award recognizes people and institutions that stand out for their solidarity with Jewish communities in Latin America and for their efforts to improve relations between the United States, Latin America, and Israel. The King was chosen in honor of his role in strengthening relations between Spain and Latin America, particularly through the law that conferred Spanish citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews.
A delegation from the AJC was in Spain this week on a visit organized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Casa Sefarad-Israel and the Spanish Federation of Jewish Communities (Federación Española de Comunidades Judías). The group met yesterday with President Pedro Sánchez, Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares, both of whom reiterated Spain’s firm commitment to fighting antisemitism.