Rabbis seek to counter 'leftist' European funding

JERUSALEM – A group of hundreds of prominent rabbis here are seeking to counter European funding to leftist Israeli organizations that promote land giveaways by embarking on a multimillion-dollar campaign to fight Israeli territorial concessions to the Palestinians.

"Europe is currently supporting with millions of dollars leftist elements in Israel that are calling on Israel to concede more and more land. These elements for over 30 years have been gripped with a defeatist mentality and have been brainwashing the Israeli public that peace in Israel can be achieved only by constant dangerous withdrawals," said a statement by the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.

"The RCP has therefore launched a million-dollar campaign to counter the millions of dollars helping those elements and are causing great damage to the security of Israel."

The rabbis plan an offensive that includes lobbying efforts, demonstrations, public education and outreach against giving up Israeli land.

"Jewish law forbids giving up border territory," stated Joseph Gerlitzky, a senior Tel Aviv rabbi and chairman of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace.

"It's in Chapter 329 of the Code of Jewish Law, a Torah and Talmud-based text considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish laws and customs," explained Garlitsky. "It states in no uncertain terms that it if you are living in a border town it is absolutely forbidden to give up even one inch of territory to those on the other side who may harm you on the grounds that it will lead to massive bloodshed.

"This is not merely a statement on paper but unfortunately has been proven true time and time again. Whenever Israel gave up territory to the Palestinians, they used it as a launching pad to strike at Israel again," Garlitsky stated.

The RCP this month is urging a religious partner of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government to immediately bolt the Israeli leader's coalition amid rampant media reports Jerusalem is up for negotiations.

The rabbis warned that if the Orthodox Shas party remains in Olmert's government, they will urge Jews against supporting Shas. If the party bolts, Olmert's coalition government could fall apart, precipitating new elections.

"We are seriously considering issuing a statement declaring it is absolutely forbidden for any observant Jew to vote for a party that lent its support to a government that negotiated the division of Jerusalem, a move that will place the entire population in Israel in mortal danger," Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, director general of the RCP, told WND.

In unprecedented criticism of his father, RCP member Rabbi Jacob Yosef, the son of the Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef, demanded his father's party immediately bolt Olmert's government due to negotiations over Jerusalem.

Jacob Yosef accused the Shas party of "selling Jerusalem" for 478 million Israeli shekels, or $138 million. Yosef's father serves as the spiritual leader of Shas, where he is also considered the party's more important and revered figure.

Last month, the Knesset's Finance Committee approved $138 million in government funds to Shas' educational institutions as part of the party's coalition agreement with Olmert.

"How dare you sell out Jerusalem for 478 million shekels. Jerusalem is worth more than all monies in the world," said Yosef, rabbi of the Givat Mordechai neighborhood in Jerusalem, addressing his father's party.

The Israeli Shas party has stated it would bolt the prime minister's coalition if it becomes clear the Israeli government is negotiating to cede of any part of Jerusalem.

Shas denies Jerusalem is being discussed during weekly Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which commenced after last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.

"Nobody is talking about Jerusalem. The moment Jerusalem is being discussed, Shas will leave the government – period," Shas spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch told Israel National News.

A Rabbinical Congress for Peace statement issued earlier this month retorted: "Every novice journalist and anyone listening to the news in Israel knows that giving up large chunks of Jerusalem has been on the negotiating table for quite some time and is in its advanced stages. Only the representatives of Shas are burying their heads in the ground and pretend they know of nothing."

"They are lying to themselves and deceiving their electorate. The Shas ministers know that Olmert and Abbas have agreed not to make public any agreement on Jerusalem until after the final signature in order to keep Shas in the government," said the RCP statement.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stated numerous times Jerusalem is being negotiated. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has said "all core issues" are being discussed during regular negotiations initiated at the Annapolis summit.

Olmert's government has hinted a number of times it will divide Jerusalem.

In December, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the country "must" give up sections of Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, even conceding the Palestinians can rename Jerusalem "to whatever they want."

"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," said Ramon during an interview.

Positions held by Ramon, a ranking member of Olmert's Kadima party, are largely considered to be reflective of Israeli government policy.

Olmert himself recently questioned whether it was "really necessary" to retain Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

About 231,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, and many reside in illegally constructed complexes. The city has an estimated total population of 724,000.

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