April 11, 2023

The IRF reaffirms its solidarity and support for the people and State of Israel during this recent difficult wave of terrorism directed at Israeli civilians that has snuffed out the lives of innocent men, women and children in the last four months.

Whatever the personal political views of our diverse membership regarding the policies and initiatives of the current coalition government, we express our love and embrace of our brothers and sisters in Israel during this painful time.

We express our deep concerns for the cohesion and well being of Israeli society and its democracy and strongly support the efforts of President Herzog and all those working to bring the conflicting parties to the table to agree on mutually acceptable proposals that will have a broad consensus of support in the Israeli body politic. By definition, these efforts will involve compromises on both sides of the divide and require moral and political leadership that understands the momentous times we are in and the need to protect and preserve the great miracle that is the State of Israel from external threats and internal dissolution.

Many unresolved tensions that lie at the heart of a pluralistic society with strongly competing visions of what the State of Israel should look like have come to the fore during these last four months. We urge and encourage that once the immediate crises can be averted, that ongoing and permanent efforts at dialogue and consensus building across Israeli society be put into place for the future. These efforts need to discuss and hammer out proposals that will set parameters and guidelines for addressing the existential issues at the core of the tensions between religion and state, the rights of minorities, religious or ethnic in a democratic Jewish state. Moreover these efforts need to address the future of the territories of Judea and Samaria/West Bank, the settlements, and our relationship to the Palestinian people and their national aspirations.