Agudath Israel of America is speaking out on Jerusalem.
The fervently Orthodox umbrella organization rarely comments publicly on Israeli security policy, but reports of Israel’s readiness to negotiate Jerusalem’s status in U.S.-convened peace talks led Agudah to speak out.
One forum was the weekly column by Agudah spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran.
“It is hard to believe that any people, entity or government could arrogate to claim a closer connection than the Jewish one to the city nestled in the Judean hills, the city toward which praying Jews for millennia have faced thrice daily, and face to this day,” Shafran wrote Friday. “And it is even harder to believe that a government of a self-described Jewish State would even consider, much less announce, its contemplation of placing Jerusalem on the cutting block of negotiations with an enemy.”
Additionally, Yeshiva World News reported this week that Agudah plans to make reports of the negotiations the centerpiece of its convention this weekend. The keynote session Saturday night at the convention in Stamford, Conn., is “The Threat to Divide Yerushalayim: The Torah World’s Response,” the Web site reported.
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