Today, in the wake of continued acts of terror by Palestinians against innocent Israelis, the leadership of the Orthodox Union issued the following statement:
The ongoing and intensifying wave of violence and terrorism across Israel is deeply alarming and the apparent indifference of the international community to a campaign of terror being waged against innocent Jews going about their daily routine shocks the conscience.
We support the Government of Israel’s efforts to provide the necessary security for its citizens. We also support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s publicly reaffirming his commitment to the status quo on the Temple Mount.
We find unacceptable that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continues to support – indeed, explicitly incites – such terrorism by allowing Palestinian officials to assert blatantly false Israeli conspiracies related to holy sites in Jerusalem and call for the killing of Israelis and Jews.
We appreciate that the U.S. Administration has called the spate of attacks what it is — “terrorism” — but we call upon President Barack Obama and other world leaders to exert their influence on the Palestinian Authority to end this wave of violence and to support the Israeli government’s security efforts without reservation. “Balanced” statements calling on “both sides” to work for calm are wrong when it is abundantly clear that one side is fomenting violence against innocents.
Many Orthodox Union congregations have already engaged in special prayers to the Almighty in the face of the recent violence. We call upon all our congregations to join in this essential practice. We further call upon our members to communicate with their representatives in Congress, who are at home in their districts this week to vocally support Israel in the face of this terror campaign.