Gabi Levi from Bergam

Peter Lyukimson, Israel. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

The former ambassador of Israel in Turkey Gabi Levi arrived to the country by personal invitation of Premier Recep Erdogan for participation in the opening ceremony of a reconstructed synagogue in Bergam, a native town of Gabi Levi.

It is one of the most ancient and beautiful synagogues in Turkey. It was abandoned in the late 1940s, since all Jews of Bergam and the majority of other Jews of the country were issued Israeli citizenship.

Gabi Levi decided to reconstruct the half-destroyed synagogue in the 1980s, when he visited the town of his childhood with his father. In 2007 Gabi Levi managed to involve the mayor of Bergam into the undertaking, convincing him that reconstruction of the synagogue would boost a tourist inflow into the town.

However, in 2010, soon after the incident with Mavi Marmara, Gabi Levi was declared a persona non grata and was sent away from the country.

However, it appeared that not only the mayor of Bergam liked the idea of restoration of the synagogue, but also the top Turkish authorities. In May the former ambassador of Israel to Turkey received an invitation to Bergam for participation in opening of the new synagogue. It was restored for money of UNESCO, the Turkish government, and the Jews community. The letter was signed by Premier Erdogan.

More than 300 people took part in the opening ceremony, and Gabi Levi made a speech.

When he returned to Israel, Levi said that he was shocked by beauty of the reconstructed synagogue and hospitable welcome. Journalists asked him whether the personal invitation to Turkey meant that soon relations between Israel and Turkey would be restored. Gabi Levi answered: “I don’t think these two matters are connected to each other. But one thing is obvious: we can’t live without each other.”