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February 1, 2006
Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations Expresses Deep Dismay at Events in
Israel, Calls for Calm and Restraint; “As Israel Faces Renewed
Threats from Those Who Would Destroy Her, we Cringe at the Sight
of Jew Clashing with Jew”
Today, the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations expressed its deep dismay
over the clashes in Israel between Jewish citizens and soldiers
as the government sought to implement an evacuation of Amona.
News reports indicate that more than 200 Israelis, including
members of the parliament, were injured.
Union president Stephen Savitsky and executive vice president
Rabbi Tzvi H. Weinreb issued the following statement:
Today, as Israel faces renewed threats from those who would
destroy her, we cringe at the sight of Jew clashing with Jew.
In the shadow of the Palestinian election in which a majority of
Palestinians knowingly gave over the leadership of their
community to Hamas – a terrorist organization whose platform is
and remains the destruction of Israel, the Israeli government
sought to remove Jewish settlers from Amona. Especially in this
context, this effort, while authorized by the legislature and
the courts, required special sensitivity and consideration in
its implementation.
We are dismayed that the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces
were unable to carry out their orders without resort to forceful
tactics and we are dismayed that many who objected to and were
protesting the evacuation resorted to acts of violence.
Now is a time where all Jews must unite in brotherhood in the
face of a renewed threat to the Jewish State and the Jewish
People. We call upon political, religious and community leaders
in Israel to exercise restraint in their words and their deeds
and to endeavor repair the bonds of mutual responsibility. The
means for debating policy disagreements is the pending election
campaign in which all sides should vigorously engage.
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