WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama said he would work to "achieve lasting peace and security" for Israel in a videotaped Rosh Hashanah message.
Obama said Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur provide an opportunity "for families, communities, and even nations to heal old divisions, seek new understandings, and come together to build a better world for our children and grandchildren," and urged a rededication to that work.
"Let us resist prejudice, intolerance, and indifference in whatever forms they may take — let us stand up strongly to the scourge of anti-Semitism, which is still prevalent in far too many corners of our world," he said.
"And let us work to achieve lasting peace and security for the state of Israel, so that the Jewish state is fully accepted by its neighbors, and its children can live their dreams free from fear," he said. "That is why my administration is actively pursuing the lasting peace that has eluded Israel and its Arab neighbors for so long."
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