Prime Minister of Slovenia Plants an Olive Tree in the Jerusalem Forest

July 2011

"Planting an olive tree is a symbolic gesture that represents our striving for peace as well as the promise that the Jewish people will never again undergo the horrors that it has suffered," said Borut Pahor, the Prime Minister of Slovenia. Prime Minister Pahor joined dozens of other international leaders in planting a tree in the Grove of Nations, which is located in Jerusalem beneath Yad Vashem, the memorial site for those who perished in the Holocaust. Efi Stenzler, KKL-JNF World Chairman, Evan Sovitz, the Slovenian Ambassador to Israel, and Shmuel Merom, the Israeli Ambassador to Slovenia, took part in the planting ceremony.

"I am extremely impressed every time I visit this beautiful country," added the Slovenian Prime Minister during the ceremony. "Visiting Yad Vashem raises the penetrating question of how people can inflict such horrors on others. The State of Israel is fighting for her right to exist, and Slovenia is extending a helping hand in a desire to build a better world together. This is our responsibility as well as our obligation."

Efi Stenzler, KKL-JNF World Chairman, remarked that in Jewish tradition planting a tree is a sign of true friendship. "The Grove of Nations is different than any other forest in Israel," explained Stenzler. "This is the place where heads of state express their identification with the Jewish people and their thoughts of friendship with the State of Israel."

Stenzler explained to the participants about the extensive activities of KKL-JNF throughout the country such as forestation, the creation of new sources of water, development of infrastructures for communities and agriculture, and the battle against desertification. He called for cooperation in promoting environmental initiatives, and stated that KKL-JNF would gladly take part in any efforts to promote the environment and the friendship between the two countries.