Zwye Eliezer Alonie, who was rabbi in Mainz from 2001 to 2005, said, among other things, that he was open for cooperation with other religious communities.
The chairman of the Jewish Community, Ognjen Kraus, and other prominent members voiced full confidence in the new rabbi.
The election of Zwye Eliezer Alonie sparked off some speculations that he had false documents for this post, according to part of the Croatian media, However, the new rabbi and the community leadership refuted those claims as incorrect.
Alonie's arrival in Zagreb happened against a backdrop of conflicts between two blocs in the Zagreb Jewish Community, one being for the prolongation of the contract of Rabbi Kotel Da-Don and the other insisting on the new one.