Saudi envoy attends Jewish event

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington attended a Jewish community reception for the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism.

Turki al-Faisal, who is completing his term in Washington, appeared Wednesday at the event in the Capitol building honoring Gregg Rickman, the State Department’s top official combating anti-Semitism. It was the Saudi’s first such appearance at a public event sponsored by Jewish groups, in this case the United Jewish Communities, World Jewish Congress’ American Section, B’nai B’rith International, American Friends of Lubavitch and NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. Al-Faisal also met privately in recent weeks with two dovish, pro-Israel groups.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who heads the Lubavitch-Chabad office in Washington, appealed to Al-Faisal and other Arab ambassadors in the room to recognize that anti-Semitism ultimately poses as much of a threat to their nations as it does to Jews. Al-Faisal announced his sudden resignation last month.