“The Jews are part of the Assyrian nation – we lived together without terror and without a knife”

According to Lazar, the visit to Israel included participation in a unique conference in which representatives of various minorities from the region – Assyrians, Druze, Alevis and other representatives – took part in order to build a front of civil and religious solidarity. “It was a very successful conference,” he said. “For the first time, we felt that there is a platform that allows minorities to make a voice that has not been heard for years in the Middle East.”

Lazar explained that the Assyrian Council acts as a cross-border umbrella body that unites Assyrian Christians and Jews from different countries – Australia, Germany, Sweden, Israel and other countries. “We are not a body based on one religion,” he emphasized. “Assyrians, Syrians, Maronites, Chaldeans (Chasdians) and Arameans – we all belong to one historical root, very close to the Jewish people as well.” He noted that one of the significant aspects of the conference was the meeting with representatives of other communities, including Druze and Alevi. “We saw each other not as enemies but as those who share a similar fate. We built important bonds, ones that did not exist before.”

“There is no Assyrian state today, but you cannot erase a nation”

At the heart of the interview was the relationship between Assyrians and Jews. Lazar claimed that about 550,000 Jews of Assyrian origin live in Israel, and that part of the older generation still speaks the Assyrian language at home. “We see the Jews as part of the Assyrian nation,” he said. “One blood, one history. They are not strangers to us.” According to him, over the years part of the community adopted other identities, mainly Kurdish, due to the regions of origin. This process, according to him, caused a cultural disconnection and the erosion of the Assyrian language and identity, especially among the younger generation. “This is a great loss – both for us and for the State of Israel,” he said.

Lazar told about his personal origin from a family originating in Turkey, from a tribe where Christians and Jews lived side by side. He mentioned family names, traditions and a common language as proof of the historical kinship, and noted that for nine years he has been working to strengthen the relationship with Assyrian Jews in Israel. According to him, the Assyrian people are an ancient people, which preceded the Arab and Islamic world in the region. “You can say that there is no Assyrian state today, but you cannot erase a nation,” he said. “There are millions of Assyrian artifacts in museums around the world – and we are still alive.”

“A few dozens of Assyrian families remain in Baghdad”

The question of establishing an independent Assyrian entity also came up in the conversation. Lazar said that for him any such move must begin in the Nineveh district in northern Iraq, which he defined as the historical land of Assyria, mentioned in his words in the Bible, in the New Testament and in other historical sources. According to him, today over 200 thousand Assyrians live in the Nineveh region, and a local Assyrian force of about 1,500 fighters works alongside them, working to protect Assyrian settlements.

However, he described a reality of persistent insecurity in this region as well. Lazar said that the Assyrians in Nineveh suffer repeated attacks by terrorist organizations, led by ISIS, as well as harassment by local officials. According to him, during the Assyrian Rosh Hashanah holiday (April 1) celebrated in Erbil in northern Iraq, a man associated with the ISIS organization – who, according to him, originates from Syria – entered the gathering, attacked an elderly woman in the head with a sharp instrument and wounded a 16-year-old boy. According to him, the Kurdish security forces present at the scene did not intervene.

He also said that Assyrians who came from Europe to participate in the celebrations were stopped at the checkpoint, and were told that “this is not Assyrian land but Kurdistan”, and therefore they were prevented from participating in the event. According to him, this is a continuous pattern of repression and an identity that is erased by force. Lazar also mentioned an incident that happened in the town of Baghdad in northern Iraq, a few days before the October 7 attack in Israel. According to him, armed men broke into a wedding event, murdered dozens of its participants – including women, children and the elderly – and burned the place. “People came to rejoice – and lives were burned,” he said, noting that the event left a heavy sorrow in the Assyrian community around the world.

In addition, he referred to the burning of churches and repeated attacks on Christian communities, and claimed that in Baghdad, where he was born, about 50,000 Assyrian families used to live in one area alone, while today “perhaps only a few dozens remain.” According to him, the harm to the Assyrians comes from various factors – terrorist organizations, militias, and sometimes also from the lack of protection from the authorities.

“Why bring foreign blood? There are Assyrians without work”

Later in the conversation, Lazar told about an idea that arose during his stay in Israel, against the background of the departure of foreign workers after the outbreak of the war. He described a conversation he had in Israel, in which the possibility of bringing Assyrians from different countries to work in Israel came up. “When the war started,” he said, “the workers from Thailand and the Philippines fled, and all agriculture was emptied.” According to him, during that conversation it was said: “Why bring foreign blood? Why not bring our own blood.”

Lazar clarified that he was referring to the Assyrians currently living in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Iran and other countries, who, according to him, “are sitting without work.” He emphasized that the words were said only as an idea of ​​principle and not as an official appeal to the State of Israel: “At least if they are already bringing people – let them bring our own people”, he said. According to him, throughout history the Assyrians lived alongside Jews “without terror and without a knife”.

At the end of the interview, Lazar expressed his appreciation for Israel and its civil model. “I saw here a country that protects its citizens – Jews, Arabs, Christians and Druze,” he said. He added that cooperation between Israel and minorities in the Middle East is essential, and that in his eyes Israel is a natural partner in the fight against extremism and promoting coexistence. “We are a people of peace,” he concluded. “We reject extremism, believe in living together, and want to be part of a space that respects identity, culture and history.”