Reform calls for withdrawal from Iraq

The Reform movement voted to oppose a U.S. escalation of troop levels in Iraq and called for a withdrawal timetable. In the resolution Monday, members of the executive committee of the Union for Reform Judaism also called on the U.S. Congress to effect the goals of the resolution. The draft follows a 2005 resolution urging President Bush to begin a phased withdrawal. URJ officials stressed that the resolution was in keeping with the moral imperatives of Jewish tradition and the Reform movement’s history of social activism.”Today’s decision was reached only after thoughtful deliberation and due consideration of the complex issues involved,” said Robert Heller, chairman of URJ’s board of trustees. The URJ’s president, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, said the resolution was adopted with a view toward empowering the Religious Action Center, Reform Judaism’s Washington advocacy arm, to lobby for its implementation.