Israel - Charedi Rabbis Seek Cease-Fire With Hamas

Israel - Rabbi Steinman and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, have given their blessing to a meeting with Hamas aimed at reaching a cease-fire that could save Jewish lives.

The plan approved by Yosef and Steinman calls for three rabbis representing Sephardi, Ashkenazi and religious Zionist Orthodoxy to meet with Hamas representatives.

The proposed cease-fire would be between Hamas and the Jewish people - not with the state of Israel - to circumvent Hamas's refusal to recognize the Zionist entity.
Rabbi Yosef, and Rabbi Steinman and other major rabbinic leaders take a pragmatic approach to the talks, they see it as a means of stopping, even if only temporarily, the barrage of Kassam rockets in the South, suicide bombings and roadside shootings.

Contemporary Issues in Jerusalem, said that religious leaders, both Jewish and Muslim, had much in common and could accomplish much more than politicians. "The Islamic world has deep concerns about the penetration of liberal, secular values and lifestyles into the Middle East. A major factor in the conflict between radical Islam and the Western world is Islam's opposition to secular lifestyle and ideology. "The Charedi community understands their sensitivities and mentality and feels threatened by the same phenomena.
The Charedi community could play a key role in dialogue between the West and Islam because we live in two worlds, one deeply religious and the other liberal and pluralistic. We understand that the secular mind is different from the religious mind.

"Today in the West the assumption in dealing with Muslim extremism is that moderation and tolerance are the keys. But what the West does not understand is that there is something threatening in that approach, both to the Charedi mind and to a deeply Islamic mind. Both Charedim and Muslims see multicultural society as an anathema.