Prominent rabbis within the Orthodox Jewish community reaffirmed their support for Premier Menachem Begin’s policies regarding settlements at a press conference held here today. The same group sponsored a full-page advertisement in The New York Times recently urging Begin to halt the autonomy talks.
The International Rabbinic Committee for the Safety of Israel (IRCSI), claiming to represent the community and responding to recent media coverage of open opposition to Begin’s policies, hailed Begin as “a statesman who is motivated by a sincere desire for peace, and deplore those who assail his leadership and undermine his efforts.”
Rabbis Sholom Gold, post president of Young Israel Rabbis and IRCSI co-chairman, said that the committee’s foremost concern is the Jews who live in Israel and stressed that “autonomy is a stepping stone to the creation of a Palestinian state, which constitutes a clear danger to the life and limb of each and every Jewish Israel.”
Though Gold would not comment when asked about territories already returned by Israel to Egypt, he did say “that any further return of territories places Israel in dire jeopardy.” He also reiterated the need for rabbis on the committee to publicize a legal ruling from the Talmud, later codified by rabbinic authorities, to protect the land from conquest by “strangers.” The new and old legally established settlements in Judaea and Samaria are not obstacles in the way of peace, but rather are the frontline of defense for the State of Israel, he continued.
The committee proclaims “Jerusalem will for all times remain the indivisible, eternal capital of the Jewish people, will never be divided, nor will the flag of any other nation fly from its ramparts,” and calls on the American government to resist pressures from countries hostile to Israel when negotiating sales of military equipment which could be used against it.
LEADERS IN THE ‘OLD TRADITION’
Rabbi Zevulen Lieberman, of Congregation Beth Torah of Ocean Parkway, who said he represents the Sephardic community in that area of Brooklyn, and is an active member of the IRCSI, said the organization comprises 376 members who are communal leaders in the “old tradition” and whose purpose is to guide the American Jewish community in their concern for the “safety, welfare and protection” of the three million Jews in Israel. “We are not a political lobby group or pressure group, “he continued, saying that he hoped the committee’s views would be made known through the press.
The president of Young Israel Rabbis of America, Rabbi Chaim Wassrman, claimed that recent announcements by prominent members of the Jewish community opposing current Israeli policy has only confused American Jewry and do not represent the majority. He said the task of today’s Jewish leaders is to direct these “confused people.”
Rabbi Isaac Pupko, of Congregation Beth Torah Damesek Eliezer, chairman of the IRCSI, reminded the audience that today was the first day of the Jewish month of Av, marking the traditional nine days of mourning for the destruction of the Second Temple and other tragedies which have be fallen the Jewish people. He reiterated the IRCSI’s commitment to an undivided Israel. He also said that Israel belongs to all Jewish people, in all parts of the world, and it is this partnership which enables them to voice their opinions and concerns regarding Israeli internal affairs.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
