Important Message from Rabbi Steven Weil, Executive Vice President and Simcha Katz, President of the Orthodox Union.

August 24, 2011

In order to show our solidarity with the people of Israel and particularly the residents of the south of Israel who are under the constant threat of attack, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations are urging all synagogues to join as sponsors of the attached letter. They would like to send the letter to the Prime Minister and President as soon as possible with the largest possible number of signatories.

People need only to sign on to the letter electronically at www.tinyurl.com/solidaritywithisrael and the names will be added.

PRESS RELEASE

May 24th 2011
New York, NY

RCA Issues a Statement in Response to President Obama's Statements on Israel-Palestinian Peace

The Rabbinical Council of America thanks President Obama for his welcome clarifications at the AIPAC Conference regarding the quest for peace between Israel and its neighbors. We appreciate the President's proven commitment to strengthening Israel's military deterrence, and his firm rejection of any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.

We note with grave concern, however, the President's open declaration that the pre-1967 armistice lines, with land swaps, be the baseline for negotiations. The notion of Israel living within those patently indefensible borders, its major population centers mere minutes away from invading armies, simply cannot even be a subject for discussion. Furthermore, it is both disturbing and potentially perilous that those around the world who do not share our and the President's concern for the vulnerability of Israeli civilians can now use his remarks as diplomatic cover.

With equal concern, we note that the President left open for further negotiation the issue of Palestinian refugees. This marks a stark departure from the previously expressed U.S. policy that a just and fair solution to the Palestinian refugee problem would be their absorption into a future Palestinian state.

Finally, given the recent embrace by President Abbas of the murderous Hamas regime, Israel can not be expected to entrust its future to a peace treaty which could well be abrogated by future rulers of a Palestinian state. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in the pursuit of an illusory peace, which was followed by increased rocket and terror attacks upon its civilian population at the hand of Hamas, should not be forgotten or ignored. We are so pleased that on this matter President Obama stands so emphatically with Israel. As he said in his Sunday remarks in reference to Hamas, "No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction."

We are grateful to the President for his earnest and constructive clarifications of recent days, and appreciate his commitment to the long-term security of Israel. At the same time, we urge him and his advisors to support Israel's proven need for defensible borders. And we share with him the insistence on Palestinian partners who unambiguously reject terror and incitement, and who themselves accept and recognize Israel as a permanent, Jewish state.

About the RCA:

The Rabbinical Council of America, with national headquarters in New York City, is a professional organization serving nearly 1000 Orthodox Rabbis in the United States of America, Canada, Israel, and around the world. Membership is comprised of duly ordained Orthodox Rabbis who serve in positions of the congregational Rabbinate, Jewish education, chaplaincies, and other allied fields of Jewish communal work.

For further information about this statement, you may contact:

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin
President
201-568-5860
rgoldin@ahavathtorah.org

The Rabbinical Council of America
305 Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10001
212-807-9000
www.Rabbis.org