Agudath Israel of America adopted a resolution opposing any relinquishing of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. The decision, adopted Sunday at the organization’s 85th national convention in Stamford, Conn., followed a plenary session at which Agudath’s Council of Torah Sages expressed its opposition to dividing the city. Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker rebbe and the head of the council, described a meeting in Jerusalem with two leading rabbinic authorities, Rabbis Yoseph Sholom Elyashiv and Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, in which both expressed their opposition to any change in the status quo. Perlow noted that it is Agudah policy on matters relating to Israel to refer to rabbinic authorities based in Israel.
“Agudath Israel will find appropriate ways to express itself on this matter,” he said. Agudah’s resolution came two days before the U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Md., aimed at restarting the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Other Jewish groups in advance of Annapolis have expressed opposition to dividing Jerusalem.
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