In a letter to the prime minister, Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Yeruslavski, secretary of Israel's Chabad rabbinical court, expresses the movement's position against establishment of a Palestinian state.
By JEREMY SHARONChabad rabbis sing ‘Ani Ma’amin’ in front of the movement’s world headquarters in Brooklyn(photo credit: MARK KAUZLARICH/REUTERS)
Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Yeruslavski, one of the most senior Chabad rabbis in Israel and secretary of the Chabad rabbinical court, has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.In a personal letter to Netanyahu, Yeruslavski argues that the Trump plan will see the establishment of a Palestinian state and endanger the lives and security of Israel’s citizens.“When we are hearing talk and so on about agreement to the establishment of a terror state in Judea and Samaria, we request from your honor that God forbid this mistake will not be made to accept the plan of the century of President Trump which includes a Palestinian state, God have mercy,” wrote Yeruslavski.This plan will bring the exact opposite of good and security for the holy land. We hope and pray the whole time for your success in private and general matters,” the rabbi concluded.Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh and final leader of the Chabad hassidic movement, was adamantly opposed to territorial concessions to the Palestinians and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Chabad movement today likewise continues to oppose such steps, and its voter base is extremely right wing.Trump’s plan allows for the establishment of an autonomous, demilitarized statelet on 70% of the West Bank, Judea and Samaria. Yeruslavski’s opposition to the proposals is in keeping with the thinking of Chabad’s ideology and leadership.
