Da-Don recalled that six months ago the head of the Jewish Municipality of Zagreb, Ognjen Kraus, wrote the best letters of recommendation for him to be granted Croatian citizenship, and that only a few months later his contract was not renewed contrary to the will of more than two-thirds of the members of the Jewish community who voted for him at a meeting in Zagreb on 28 June.
"That is the best proof that the present leaders of the Jewish community in Zagreb do not understand that they have to serve their community, and it is obvious that I am standing in someone's way," the rabbi said in his written statement.
The coordinating body of the Jewish municipalities in Croatia decided at a meeting on Tuesday evening that Kotel Da-Don would no longer be the chief rabbi of Croatia.
Da-Don was inaugurated as chief rabbi at a ceremony in Zagreb on 5 November 1998.