ORTHODOX UNION WRITES PM NETANYAHU REGARDING JERUSALEM
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:
We write on behalf of our organization and our many synagogues and members throughout North America to express our strong support for your staunch defense of the unity of the holy city of Jerusalem these past few weeks.
The position of the Orthodox Union and its constituents on this matter is clear. As stated in a Resolution adopted at the Orthodox Union’s 2006 Bienniel Convention:
“Our relationship to Yerushalayim is one that transcends time, space and other physical constraints, and our attachment to this holy city remains constant in our psyche, spirit and practices, wherever we may be. … Israel’s miraculous liberation of the Old City in 1967 and unification of Yerushalayim brought with it a guaranty that people of all religions could freely access all of the city’s holy sites. …Yerushalayim must forever remain the spiritual, cultural and political center of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and the Orthodox Union is mandated to undertake all efforts that are necessary to secure and maintain Yerushalayim as the eternal and undivided capital of the State of Israel.”
Mr. Prime Minister, we cannot state strongly enough our belief that the Government and people of the State of Israel hold Yerushalayim in trust for the Jewish People no matter where they may live, for we all have a share in the holy city.
We applaud your faithfulness to this trust, which realizes the ancient Jewish dream of ascending the foothills of Jerusalem, and keeps alive the hopes of millions of Jews who, for centuries, could not set foot in Jerusalem, yet raised their voices at the end of innumerable Pesach sedarim gone by to say, as we all did last week, with full conviction and deep longing la-shana ha-ba’a bi-Yerushalayim.
You know we are fully committed to stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, in defense of Yerushalayim’s unity against any who would threaten to tear her asunder again. We are confident that this unity of faith and purpose will find favor in God’s eyes and He will thus make us successful in this cause.
With best wishes,
Stephen Savitsky Rabbi Steven Weil
OU President OU Executive Vice President
Mark Bane Nathan J. Diament
Chairman, OU Institute for Public Affairs Director, OU Institute for Public Affairs