MERCAZ Newsletter -Fall 2003
Movement Leadership Endorse Bush-Sharon Vision

At its June meeting, the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism, to which MERCAZ USA is a member, adopted the following statement on the current situation in the Middle East:

"We reassert Israel's right to take measures of self-defense and urge Prime Minister Abbas to take effective measures to end the Palestinian terror and violence that has killed and injured hundreds of Israelis over the past three years and has only resulted in disaster for the Palestinian people themselves.

We urge President Bush to reassert his stance recognizing that only an end to this violence will permit Israel to make the painful compromises necessary to end this conflict once and for all, and to bring peace to Jews and Arabs alike.

We deplore the ongoing Palestinian terrorism and express our sympathies to the people of Israel for their continued suffering.

We urge our rabbis and congregations to support President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon in this historic endeavor."