The meeting was also attended by the President Stjepan Mesic, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks and Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic.
"That's our debt to our past. The synagogue was torn down at the time of the Independent State of Croatia (a Nazi-style puppet regime that ruled Croatia during World War Two) and we want to rectify that historical injustice. There is a great degree of consensus to that effect among the state leadership - the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Sabor - and the Mayor of Zagreb," Sanader said.
Sanader said that a joint committee had been formed for the construction of a synagogue and a Jewish Centre at a location in central Zagreb that is owned by the Jewish Municipality. He added that the construction project would be equally funded by the City of Zagreb and the central government.
"We invited representatives of the Zagreb Jewish Municipality and Beth Israel to the meeting because we do not want to go into the state of affairs in the Jewish community in Zagreb. With this decision and our determination to build a synagogue we want to send a clear message to the Jewish community and everyone in the world that Croatia is a country which, under its Constitution, promotes the values of antifascism and fights against any form of anti-Semitism," the Prime Minister said.