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Reform Movement urges caution over UK plans to move embassy to Jerusalem
MRJ would 'caution against the government taking action that might undermine peace in the region'
October 9, 2022 16:51
MRJ would 'caution against the government taking action that might undermine peace in the region'
October 9, 2022 16:51The Movement for Reform Judaism has sounded a note of warning over the UK government’s proposal to move the British Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, cautioning it against “taking action that might undermine peace in the region”.
The Board of Deputies has welcomed new Prime Minister Liz Truss’s pledge to look at relocating the embassy to Israel’s capital.
But shortly before the onset of Succot, MRJ issued a statement late on Sunday afternoon which refrained from endorsing such a move.
MRJ, it said, was “unequivocally Zionist and has a non-negotiable commitment to Israel and its security. We believe the pursuit of peace in Israel is the highest ideal and priority.”
It went on, “We are committed to two viable states as the only just and realistic solution to the present situation. Consequently, we would caution against the government taking action that might undermine peace in the region.”
MRJ’s caution is in contrast to the position of the Board of Deputies, whose president Marie van der Zyl told a Conservative Friends of Israel reception at the Conservative party conference last week, "We are really hopeful that the government is going to move the embassy, like America, to Jerusalem – the capital of Israel.”
Health Minister Robert Jenrick told the reception, “We have a site in Jerusalem there waiting to go. It is time we took responsibility and built that Embassy and recognised that the true capital of the State of Israel is obviously Jerusalem”.
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