By the Grace of G-d Sivan, 5765 (June 2005)

URGENT CALL BY MOST PROMINENT JEWISH LEADERS TO WORLD JEWRY TO DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR MEANS TO STOP THE MADNESS

An Urgent Call to All Rabbis, Jewish Communal Leaders, and Friends of Israel Throughout the World

“For the sounding of wailing is coming from Zion: ‘How have we been plundered? We have been shamed tremendously, for we have abandoned the land; our own dwellings have cast us out’” (Jeremiah 9:18)

Open your eyes and see what the government of Israel is planning to do:

Jewish communities that are more than three decades old will be destroyed;

Torah centers and yeshivos will be torn down;

Cemeteries where terror victims lie will be given over to the very hands who slew them;

By Israel Medad

I read some news that surprised me. I read that US Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro has announced that the

U.S. Did Not Force 2-State Solution

He claimed that to go the 'two-state route' is solely an Israeli decision.

This was the gist of the report released by members of a delegation of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) who met with the Ambassador and who called for a reassessment of the entire U.S. policy vis-à-vis the Israelis and Palestinians. They told him that

“The two state solution will never work and will only lead to increased terror and bloodshed. By promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state the U.S. is only shooting itself in the foot”

According to their version, the Ambassador said that the two state solution was not a U.S. initiative but one that was initiated and promoted by the last four Israeli governments.

“We did not pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Our goal – and Israel’s goal as well – is to get both sides to the negotiating table, they should negotiate by themselves without the help of a third party.”

Members of the delegation included Rabbi Jospeh Gerlitzky, Chairman of the RCP, my friend, Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, Director of the RCP, Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat, Rabbi Gideon Perl, Rabbi of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion and Rabbi Sholom Gold of Jerusalem. They were impressed by Ambassador Shapiro's attentiveness and his response was that the United States is

always open to hear a variety of opinions even though we may not agree with them

Is Ambassador Shapiro correct?

Back in March 2009, we could read:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear it was the intention of the Obama administration to work for the creation of a Palestinian state. “We happen to believe that moving towards a two-state solution is in Israel’s best interests.” She was with Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu who has been lukewarm about the idea of a Palestinian state in the near future. As of this point, Netanyahu only talks about improving the Palestinian economy and refused to take a stand for the rights of Palestinians to have their own nation. He told reporters the issue did not come up in his talks with Clinton even though she told the press conference the United States “will be vigorously engaged in pursuit of the two state solution.

In October last year, speaking at the annual gala of the American Taskforce for Palestine at in Washington, DC, Clinton seemed fixated on a two-state solution:

Clinton: Two-state solution still possible for Israel, Palestinians... | ...said on Wednesday that Israelis and Palestinians have not abandoned peace negotiations and that a two-state solution was still possible.

And last year, although she did reject the idea of an imposed solution

“The United States and the international community cannot impose a solution,” Clinton said at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum dinner in Washington. “Sometimes I think both parties seem to think we can. We cannot. And even if we could, we would not, because it is only a negotiated agreement between the parties that will be sustainable.

she did indicate the US

...will push the parties to grapple with the core issues. We will work with them on the ground to continue laying the foundations for a future Palestinian state. And we will redouble our regional diplomacy...“When one way is blocked, we will seek another. We will not lose hope and neither should the people of the region.”

But despite this, let's go back to March 2009:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States will press for a two-state solution to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...Secretary Clinton's pledge of support for a two-state solution may put the Obama administration at odds with Israel's new leadership...Clinton said the White House believes that moving toward a two-state solution is in Israel's best interests.

"It is our assessment as I expressed yesterday and again today that eventually the inevitability of working toward a two-state solution seems inescapable," Clinton said. "That doesn't mean that we don't respect the opinions of others who see it differently. But from my perspective and from the perspective of the Obama administration time is of the essence."

As for President Barack Obama, note this:

a) President Obama has said that it is critical for Israelis and Palestinians to restart negotiations on a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

b) in February 2009, we could read: Obama Endorses Two-State Solution for Arab-Israeli Conflict and that

President Barack Obama sent his Middle East envoy to the region to kick-start a process to end the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The effort will focus on the so-called "two-state solution...Lasting peace requires more than a long cease-fire, and that's why I will sustain an active commitment to seek two states living side by side in peace and security," Obama said.

So, was Shapiro simply being diplomatic or disingenuous?

From Right to Left: Rabbi Gideon Perl, Rav of Alon Shvut, Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat, Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, General Secretary of RCP, Ambassador Daniel Shapiro, Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, Chairman of the RCP and Rabbi Sholom Gold, Rabbi of Har Nof

A delegation of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Daniel Shapiro today and called for a reassessment of the entire U.S. policy vis-à-vis the Israelis and Palestinians. “The two state solution will never work and will only lead to increased terror and bloodshed. By promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state the U.S. is only shooting itself in the foot," the rabbis told the Ambassador.

The Ambassador said that the two state solution was not a U.S. initiative but one that was initiated and promoted by the last four Israeli governments. “We did not pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Our goal - and Israel’s goal as well – is to get both sides to the negotiating table, they should negotiate by themselves without the help of a third party.”

Ambassador Shapiro stated in no uncertain terms that “we consider Hamas a terror organization and that there can be no negotiations with it.”

Rabbi Jospeh Gerlitzky, Chairman of the RCP said that “the RCP was founded in 1993 in order to alert public attention to Israel’s failed formula of “territories for peace.” “For the last 18 years we’ve been making gestures, giving them land and other vital resources and what did we get in return? Terror and more terror, precisely from those territories that we surrendered. It’s time to stop this foolishness.

Rabbi Gerlitzky said that the only solution to the problem is as delineated in the Halachic Ruling based on the Jewish Code of Law Chapter 329 signed by over 350 of the most prominent rabbis in Israel that the value of Jewish life supersedes every other value. Therefore, when foreigners want to enter Jewish border town and state that their purpose is only to pick up straw and pebbles one must violate the Sabbath and stop them militarily for if you will allow them one inch it will ultimately lead to the conquest of the entire land.

Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, Director of the RCP, told the Ambassador that “for the last 45 years the word “peace” in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict has become synonymous with “Israeli withdrawal.” Negotiations between the two sides will always center on “from where Israel should withdraw, when and how it should withdraw and who will secure the withdrawal. Negotiations will never be “whether Israel should withdraw in the first place, whether an Israeli withdrawal will in fact bring peace?

“Unfortunately the past 45 years have proven without a shadow of a doubt that the “land for peace” formula is nothing but an exercise in futility and it’s about time to change course.” Rabbi Lewin quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak last week at a conference in Vienna, “we disengaged from Gaza and got 10,000 missiles in return.”

Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat, spoke of the living hell the disengagement from Gaza brought to Kiryat Gat, “we never felt this way before the disengagement. There are over 50 American and students in the Yeshiva in Kiryat Gat but a month ago we were forced to close it down temporarily because of the missiles attack. I have an 18 month old grand daughter who is gripped with fright hysteria every time she hears a siren alerting that a missile is on its way.

Rabbi Gideon Perl, the Rabbi of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion spoke about Israel’s eternal and inalienable rights to the Holy Land and asked how it is possible to negotiate peace with Abu Mazen who denies that there was a Holocaust? He said that the Palestinians want to destroy Israel in stages and the U.S. should not buy their deceitful ploy.

Rabbi Sholom Gold told Ambassador Shapiro that it seems senior officials in the administration “just don’t get it.” He was referring to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s statement last week at the Saban forum that called on Israel to make bold steps.

“Panetta’s statement proves he does not grasp what is going on,” said Rabbi Gold. “Israel has come to the ‘damn table’ millions of times and has made dozens of bold steps. What gestures or bold steps did the Palestinians ever make?

“Panetta doesn’t realize that we’re dealing here with murderers who while we are meeting here at your office are teaching and inculcating in their youth that all Jews in Israel must be thrown into the sea,” he told the Ambassador

Ambassador Shapiro listened attentively to the Rabbis’ arguments and positions and agreed that a strong and secure Israel is in America’s interests as well. “The U.S. has no better ally in the region and perhaps in the world than Israel,” he said. “We are always open to hear a variety of opinions even though we may not agree with them and thanked the rabbis for sharing their opinion.

In the spirit of Chanukah which celebrates the victory of a few over many, the rabbis presented the Ambassador with a Chanukah Menorah. Related Story

Rabbinical World in Israel Stunned over Chief Rabbi Lau's remarks

The Rabbinical world in Israel is stunned in wake of an interview with Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and currently Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv with a Yediot weekly supplement “Yediot Tel Aviv” this past Friday in which Rabbi Lau is quoted as saying: “If there should arise a government that will say that it is necessary to form large settlement blocs and dismantle isolated settlements I can understand that because “they were here before us.” The screaming headline of the interview is especially appalling, it reads: “They were here before us.”

These remarks are even more shocking and infuriating and elicit protest and condemnation in light of the Halachic ruling that has been signed by the majority of rabbis in Israel forbidding withdrawal from any territory currently under Israeli rule. The ruling determines that any withdrawal constitutes a blunt violation of the Halacha in the Jewish Code of Law Orach Chaim 329 for it will lead to war and bloodshed as has been proven many times in the past.

The Director-General of the Rabbinical Congress of Peace known as the Pikuach Nefesh Committee which comprises over 350 prominent rabbis in Israel, Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, issued the following statement:

“I was shocked to see these words in the name of Rabbi Lau. I know Rabbi Lau for many years and I just can’t believe that such words came out of his mouth.

“These words are in full contrast to the famous teaching, perhaps the most famous comment, by Rashi, the foremost elucidator of the Bible, in his opening clarification of the first verse in the Bible: “In the beginning G-d created heaven and earth.” There Rashi explains why the Torah begins with the creation of the world and not with the precepts of the Bible? Because “the strength of His words He declared to His nation, to give them the heritage of the peoples,” (Psalm 111:6), that if the nations of the world will ever accuse the Jews, you are robbers, you stole the land from the 7 nations (“who were here before us”), the Jews will reply – the entire world belongs to G-d Almighty, He created it and gave it to whoever He wants. At first He wanted to give it to them and then he wanted to give it to us,” and it has remained under the exclusive ownership of the Jewish People ever since.”

“I personally heard Rabbi numerous times quote the words of King Solomon that “may one thousands Solomons be erased but don’t dare erase even one letter from the Torah.” He also repeated many times the words of Maimonedes that “the Torah is eternal and can never be modified – and now he says such terrible words?! His reported remarks go against tradition, against the Jewish faith and against Jewish Law. I’m sure that there is some kind of a mistake here.

“It is totally inconceivable that during a time when Israeli leaders are struggling for every voice in the Hasbara (information) campaign, Rabbi Lau will come and support the position of our enemies. Only a day ago PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Abu Mazen in the UN disputed who was here first – now Abu Mazen can wave the interview with Rabbi Law where the former Chief Rabbi of Israel supports the Arab claim….

“What is even more absurd is that Rabbi Lau buttresses his remarks by bringing proof from the “mother of all sins – the withdrawal from Sinai and destruction of Yamit. Begin himself regretted deeply on signing the tragic Camp David accords when he saw that it was a precedent to further demands of Israeli withdrawals. Today the whole world sees that the withdrawal from Sinai has led to an Iranian proxy a few minutes away from Israeli cities and kindergartens. Not to mention that the whole peace with Egypt is hanging on a thread and no one knows what the next day will bring, how much more we will suffer from this withdrawal G-d forbid.

“The interview continues with even more dangerous comments like ”he supports the dismantling of large settlements and to leave the final status of Jerusalem till the end of the negotiations!”

“Some very prominent chief rabbis of Israeli cities called me demanding to convene a special rabbinical conference to protest these remarks but meanwhile I think it is unnecessary because I’m sure there is some error here. We hope that Rabbi Lau will clarify that the words attributed to him are false and he believes like every Jew that Eretz Yisrael belongs to the Jewish People and that Jews were here first – not only a hundred or two hundred years ago but for thousands of years there was a Jewish presence in this land. We also expect him to clarify that any withdrawal from Israeli territory is forbidden because it is a matter of “pikuach nefesh.” More

Rabbis: 'Construction Freeze Forbidden Like Bloodshed"

RCP Rabbis at Press Conference

Rabbinical Congress for Peace rabbis begin collecting signatures against the new Judea and Samaria construction freeze.

By Elad Benari- Arutz 7

Heads of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace have begun rapidly collecting signatures of rabbis of cities and neighborhoods throughout Israel on a ruling forbidding any construction freeze in Judea and Samaria and calling such a freeze “bloodshed”.

RCP heads Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, Rabbi of Central Tel Aviv and Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat, explained that the ruling is not a new one but rather one that can be found in the Shulchan Aruch, the written Halacha manual written by Rabbi Joseph Caro during the 16th century.

“The Halacha determines that any waiver or consent to appeal Israel’s ownership of a community is considered Pikuach Nefesh and in order to avoid it is even permitted to desecrate Shabbat,” explained the rabbis, and added that “the Halacha predicted precisely everything that has happened in front of our very eyes during the last few years, when it determined that any negotiation or waiver on regarding Israel’s stand on its ownership of its land, will immediately cause an increase in the enemy’s demands, encourage the murder of Jews, and increase world pressure on Israel.”

RCP Secretary General Rabbi Avraham Levin said: “I hold in my hands a copy of a letter sent by the RCP to the Prime Minister a year and a half ago, in which we warned him that the construction freeze is a disaster and that no international factor would agree to resume construction after 12 months, but that the opposite would occur and the pressure would only increase. We are not proud of the fact that our prediction was right. Any reasonable person could have foreseen the outcome, just as no one is deluding himself that at the end of the three-month additional freeze, the world's opposition to Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, and even in Jerusalem, will be removed.”

The rabbis plan to hand the signed ruling to the Prime Minister and to each of the Knesset’s ministers, as well as to publish it in all the large newspapers.

Meanwhile, as the vote on the freeze nears, it was reported on Thursday that tensions are very high in the Land of Israel camp, as nationalists said they are not being allowed to meet with Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, who will determine whether and how the Shas party ministers will vote.

It appears as though the hinges on the votes of Shas party ministers Eli Yishai and Ariel Attias. They appear likely to abstain which would give Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a majority for his freeze proposal.

The grassroots Mattot Arim organization, meanwhile, called on the public to call, fax or email not only the Shas ministers, but also Ministers Gideon Saar and Yuval Steinitz, who are believed to be seriously considering voting in favor of the freeze.

Rabbis To Ambassador: 'Go Biblical'

Left to right: Rabbi Sholom Gold, Mr. Marc Sievers of the US Embassy, Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, Ambassador James Cunningham, Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Rabbi Avrohom S. Lewin. The Rabbis handed the ambassador a Halachic Ruling signed by over 350 rabbis in Israel that forbids giving up land controlled by Israel today.

A delegation of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mr. James Cunningham, today and called for a reassessment of the entire U.S. policy vis-à-vis the Israelis and Palestinians. The rabbis told Ambassador Cunningham that it was time to try the Biblical approach to the dispute over the Land of Israel.

"The past 17 years have proven without a shadow of a doubt that every square inch ceded by Israel to the Palestinians was transformed into a platform of hatred and terrorism," RCP Director Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin told the ambassador. "In other words, the 'land for peace' formula in the Israel-Palestinian context, besides being a formula that goes against the Divine will, is ineffective, obsolete, and an exercise in futility. Most of all it is a dangerous policy that only leads to bloodshed and instability in the region and harms vital American interests in the region as well," Lewin said. Read More

The RCP Launched a Million Shekels Public Opinion Camapign

RCP Thanks President Obama for Eliminating Osama Bin Laden

Rabbinical Delegation Brings Torah Case Against Israeli Withdrawal To Capitol Hill

Avraham Shmuel Lewin, Jewish Press Israel Correspondent
Posted Aug 18 2004

WASHINGTON - A delegation representing the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP), a 1,200-member organization of rabbis from Israel, Canada, and the United States, visited the U.S. last Wednesday to discuss a "new approach" to peace in the Middle East.

I accompanied Joseph Gerlitzky, the chief rabbi of Central Tel Aviv and chairman of the RCP; David Drukman, chief rabbi of Kiryat Motzkin and deputy Chairman of the RCP to Washington, where we met with both Republican and Democratic members of Congress and spoke to journalists at the National Press Club.

The message we brought was the same to each audience:

"As rabbis we love peace and pray for global peace, especially in Israel. Moreover, the teaching of the Torah obliges us to guide our followers to pursue peace, but for a true and lasting peace, not an artificial one. Silence on the part of rabbis in such an urgent matter of life or death is considered highly irresponsible."

We emphasized that we were here as rabbis who are also American constituents and who came to share our concern about the adverse impact that both a Palestinian state and the proposed disengagement plan from Gaza would have upon American values, security, and interests.

Our message went on to state that "the Land of Israel is ours only because G-d gave it to us as an eternal heritage. We do not lay claim to the land because of our strength, our army, or our diplomacy. It is ours solely because it was given to us by G-d, the Holy Land of the Jewish People. Only such an approach will bring true peace and stability to the region."

We presented the Congress with a copy of the ruling in the Jewish Code of Law, Chapter 329, that it is absolutely forbidden to give up even one inch of land to non-Jews for it will increase bloodshed, as has been the case since Israel gave up the Sinai.

(Terrorists, for example, now use the returned territory to build tunnels to facilitate the smuggling of explosives and missiles. As the intensification of terrorism continues to destablize the region, 1,400 Israelis have been murdered since the implementation of the Oslo Accords ? proportionately equivalent to 70,000 Americans being killed.)

Presented with this "new approach," Congressman Dan Burton (R- Indiana) said, "This is not new - this is the true approach that I embraced 10 and 20 years ago.

"What happened to Sharon?" Burton asked. He requested that when we get back to Israel we convey to the prime minister and to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they are making a big mistake by allowing for a Palestinian state and for disengagement from Gaza.

We told the legislators, as well as the dozens of reporters we addressed at the National Press Club, that for a true and lasting peace to prevail between Israel and its Arab neighbors their must be a change in mindset.

Over the past 56 years, the word "peace" has become synonymous with Israeli withdrawal and concessions. The timing, the quantity and location of withdrawal has always been a subject for negotiations - But the basis of every negotiation has been that Israel must withdraw and disengage.

Today this formula has proven to be outdated, irrelevant, and most of all, dangerous. Dangerous not only to Israel but to U.S. interests and values as well.

To continue with this ineffective formula, we told them, will only serve as an exercise in futility and create more bloodshed and instability in the region.

Rabbi Drukman brought this point home when he said before Oslo was introduced we were promised a "new Middle East," and that they were right, there is a new Middle East.

"Before Oslo," he said, "I was able to walk freely in the Arab streets of Acco, (an Israeli city two miles from Kiryat Motzkin) and, obviously, Arabs from Acco were able to roam the streets in Kiryat Motzkin freely. Today, Arabs can still freely walk the streets of my city but neither I nor any other Jew dares to walk the Arab streets of Acco."

We mentioned the Talmudic adage that G-d used the Torah as His blueprint for the creation of the world: Just as when an architect draws up a plan and blueprint for erecting a building, and any deviation from those guidelines and regulations will cause the building to collapse or become unstable, so too any deviation from G-d's divine guidelines and the regulations delineated in the Torah will cause global instability.

A fundamental and essential guideline and regulation of the Torah is that the Land of Israel as outlined in the Torah belongs to the Jewish people in its entirety. No international resolution, regardless who adopts it - whether the Europeans, the United Nations, America or even Israel - can change that axiom.

There is therefore no need to send U.S. envoys to Jerusalem to negotiate with their Israeli counterparts on the final boundaries of Israel. They were already demarcated in the Torah thousands of years ago.

We told the legislators that while they have heard various analyses of the Mideast question from politicians and security officials, the one thing they have not heard was the rabbinic and Torah version of the situation.

We were quite surprised to see the level of importance they accorded to their meeting with us. Some even cancelled prior appointments and meetings to clear their schedules for our meeting.

One congressman said he had never believed in the territory for peace formula and that when he visited Israel in 1993, during the advent of the Oslo agreement, he warned Israeli leaders they were making a terrible mistake.

We discussed new ideas as to what the U.S. Congress can and should do to bring Prime Minister Sharon to the realization that he has embarked on a very dangerous and detrimental path that would not only have catastrophic effects in the Middle East but also serve as a catalyst for global terrorism.

After our meetings on Capitol Hill we were driven to the National Press Club where we faced a battery of some 25 reporters representing various media outlets around the globe.

We reiterated there what we had said earlier. A UPI reporter provocatively asked us if we think that the DNA of Palestinians is different from that of Jews.

Rabbi Gerlitzky dismissed the question, saying that if you examine the textbooks in our elementary schools you will find nothing which inculcates hate in the minds of young children. "But go open up the Palestinian books taught to Palestinian children and you will find it inundated with hate towards Jews and training of little children to become suicide bombers, to blow themselves up in order to kill Jews," he said.

We were also asked what has Israel given to the Palestinians. "All we see is Israel expanding and Palestinian territory diminishing," said one reporter. "Therefore they are in despair and resort to terrorism. Israel should be more forthcoming and withdraw from some areas to give them hope."

I responded by pointing out that Israel gave up all of Sinai, which is now being used to dig tunnels through which explosives are smuggled. With the Oslo agreement, I said, Israel gave up all of Gaza and 40 percent of Judea and Samaria, after which the Palestinians violated both the letter and spirit of every part of the agreement.

We emphasized to the reporters, many of whom had never seen Israel's situation in this light, that recent history proves that giving "hope" to terrorists only breeds more terrorism.

Emergency Rabbinical Confence

The Rabbinical Congress for Peace ("Pikuach Nefesh") has called for an emergency Rabbinical conference of numerous prominent rabbis from Israel to take place tomorrow, Thursday, March 30, 2006, 12:45 PM at the Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem.

At the meeting the rabbis will alarm and call on all parties not to form or join a coalition that intends to withdraw from any parts of Judea or Samaria because such a move will not contribute to peace rather will have the opposite effect: encouraging and strengthening terrorists and will lead to increased bloodshed.

Worldnetdaily:Rabbis: Take back Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must immediately take back the Gaza Strip and cease any future land transfers to the Palestinians, a group of prominent rabbis told WorldNetDaily, declaring this past summer's unilateral Gaza withdrawal in contravention to Jewish law.

"My function as a rabbi is to declare the word of the Torah as delineated by Jewish law, which forbids giving any land to an enemy that will attack you," said Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, a senior Tel Aviv rabbi and chairman of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a worldwide coalition of over 1200 rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.