Labor Party leader Shimon Peres repeated today his apposition to settlements such as that founded by Gush Emunim in Elon More. Speaking before the convention of Progressive Judaism here, Peres said the key was to protect the Jewish majority of the State. He repeated his party’s view that it would be a mistake to annex the administered territories and bring in more than one million Palestinians against their will. This, he said, was the danger of settlements like Elon Moreh.
Peres also expressed his support for the Reform movement and its struggle for recognition in Israel. He gave particular praise to the movement’s settlement of Yahel– a kibbutz in the Arava.
Peres was asked if his party would work toward a recognition of the Reform movement if it returned to power. “Labor is traditionally against any sort of coercion, “Peres replied, religious or anti-religious. We are for recognizing all streams of Jewish life. “Referring to Labor’s failure to do so in the past, Peres noted that his party had always kept a sort of relation” with the Reform movement, and that if his party returned to power, “I hope we shall be able to make progress. “(By Gil Sedan)
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