Riordan to Lead L.A. Delegation to Israel

Accepting invitations from the Israeli government and the mayor of Jerusalem, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan will lead a delegation of local business, religious and community leaders to Israel this fall, Riordan’s press office said Monday.

The Los Angeles delegation of about three dozen people will spend 10 days in the Jewish state to promote continued business and cultural exchanges and to see firsthand how Israel deals with the ethnic diversity of its peoples, said Steve Sugerman, Riordan’s communications director.

The delegation also plans to participate with expatriate Los Angeles residents in celebrating “Jerusalem 3000,” a heavily promoted, 15-month commemoration of the 3,000th anniversary of the city’s unification under King David.

Members of the delegation, including the mayor and several aides, will pay their own expenses during the Aug. 31-Sept. 9 tour, Sugerman said.

Riordan, whose staff is working with Israeli officials and local Jewish groups to finish forming the delegation and its itinerary, received invitations from Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Israeli Consul General Yoram Ben Ze’ev.

Los Angeles is home to the second-largest Jewish population outside Israel. New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose city includes the largest Jewish population outside Israel, has visited the Jewish state several times. Although Riordan traveled to Israel before his 1993 election, the upcoming tour will be his first official visit.

“Los Angeles and Israel have enjoyed strong ties for many decades, and it is important to continue to strengthen that bond,” Riordan wrote in accepting Olmert’s invitation.

The visit is being planned at a crucial time in Israel’s tumultuous history--amid controversial efforts for a permanent peace in the Middle East and just weeks after the election of new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sugerman said the mayor hopes to meet with officials including Netanyahu and his predecessor, Shimon Peres, President Ezer Weitzman, several Israeli Cabinet ministers, leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Mayor Olmert and U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk.

Portions of the trip aimed at promoting cultural and religious understanding are being coordinated by Rabbi Gary Greenebaum of the American Jewish Committee, a former Riordan appointee to the Police Commission and co-chairman of a new mayoral appointed group aimed at helping residents assess and improve City Hall services.

John Fishel of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles is arranging for meetings to help form an economic alliance between Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, while David Lehrer of the Anti-Defamation League is focusing on highlighting the role of youths in promoting peace and mutual understanding, Sugerman said.

The delegation, which Sugerman said will reflect the city’s racial and religious diversity, plans to tour an “absorption center,” where immigrants get help in acclimating to their new surroundings, and to visit several educational and cultural institutions.

“Los Angeles and Israel are two of the multicultural centers of the world,” Riordan said in his acceptance letter. “I look forward to sharing some of our successes, and I hope to bring home some lessons from Israel.”

The trip will be Riordan’s third official visit abroad since he took office in mid-1993.