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Chief Rabbi Herzog Says Jewish Commonwealth Cannot Be Established Without Jerusalem

November 22, 1948
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It would be inconceivable to establish the Jewish commonwealth followed by a virtual decapitation of it through detaching its spiritual center, Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog declared today, commenting on the suggestion that the Holy City be internationalized.

Recognizing that to Islam and Christianity there were also Holy Places within Jerusalem, Rabbi Herzog said that arrangements could be made for their extraterritorial rights in the Old City, under internal control. The entire city enjoys a unique sanctity in the Jewish tradition, he said. “For a thousand years Jews all over the world had prayed in the direction of Jerusalem,” he stated. “Surely nations today would not deny Judea the restoration of the sanctuary of its spirit,” Rabbi Herzog added.

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