Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, is concerned about developments at universities. He demands a commitment to Israel’s existence as a condition for German citizenship and finds the election results in Bavaria alarming – without mentioning Aiwanger by name.
For two years, Dani Dayan has been chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s “Memorial to the Holocaust and Heroism.” Yad Vashem is the world’s most important memorial and research site commemorating the extermination of Jews by the National Socialists. The 68-year-old was head of the settlers’ council, a diplomat and tried twice in vain to enter parliament for a right-wing party. His nomination to chair the memorial was also welcomed by left-wing parties in Israel. In his office at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, an excerpt from the will of the painter Gela Seksztajn, who was murdered during the Holocaust, hangs behind his desk. It says that an institution should one day be founded to commemorate the Holocaust – for Dayan, this is Yad Vashem’s mission.