Syria – An Israeli delegation of religious leaders is going to present Syrian opposition members on Thursday with a list of sites in Syria holy to Judaism, to be safeguarded if Bashar Assad’s regime collapses.
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While the erstwhile Turkish vision of brokering talks between Jerusalem and Damascus seems as distant as ever, an Israeli deputy minister and member of the Chief Rabbinical Council will be part of the Israeli interfaith delegation to Istanbul, which, besides meeting with a prominent local Muslim preacher, will also be holding talks with the members of the Syrian opposition.
Chief Rabbi of Holon Avraham Yosef, the son of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and a member of the rabbinate’s council, will be one of the more high-profile religious leaders in the group that took off from Israel on Wednesday – one week after the original delegation was postponed.
The delegation, under the auspices of Ayoub Kara, deputy minister for development of the Negev and Galilee, includes, among others, Rabbi Abraham Sherman of the High Rabbinic Court, Rabbi Yeshayahu Hollander, Bedouin Sheikh Atef al-Krenawi, and a Druse Sheikh and a Catholic priest.
A spokesman for Kara said on Wednesday that the opposition members expressed their consent to place guards at such sites, and prohibit the public to damage any religion’s venerated spaces.
Yosef is not known for being involved in interfaith dialogue, but an assistant to a Shas lawmaker suggested to Kara’s people that he join the group.
Safadi stressed that Kara’s good relations with the Syrian politicians is what enabled the event’s occurrence.
And where are these religious worthies going to meet the “Syrian opposition”? In Damascus? Or perhaps in BP, or Willi?
Consorting with the enemy is a serious offense in any country; kal vechomer Israeli rabbanim meeting with citizens of a country dedicated to the destruction of Medinat Yisrael.
As the joke goes, a Sheik, a Rabbi and a Catholic Priest were flying together when a…
Meeting in Turkey, no? And why aren’t there any Rabbis from the Syrian community involved?
How ironic. The Syrians, with whom Israel is not engaged in peace talks, are willing to save and protect Jewish sites. The Palestinians destroy them –like they did to Yosef’s kever.
In other words, we’re giving the Arabs a list of sites we value the most, so they’ll know which ones to destroy the first.