Date: 09 / 07 / 2009  Time:  14:33
Bethlehem - Ma’an -

The mayor of Kiryas Joel, a village within the town of Monroe, New York, whose residents are entirely Hasidic Jews including many holocaust survivors, sent a letter of support to US President Barak Obama urging him to continue pushing for regional peace, including on his call to halt settlement construction, and end the “senseless bloodshed” in the Middle East.

“As an American of the Jewish faith, and as a mayor of the largest village inhabited by Orthodox Jews, I am writing to support your noble efforts,” Mayor Abraham Wieder opened the letter.

According to a statement from a group called True Torah Jews, which is working to spread the message of the village mayor, “The letter was written in reaction to the anti-Obama rhetoric of some religious pro-settler organizations, which have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks as the Obama administration continues to push the Israeli government to curb settlement growth in the West Bank as a prerequisite for a peace settlement.”

The letter rejects Israeli-Zionist claims that no part of the holy land can be relinquished, calling the religious basis for the claims “wholly fallacious!” and explains that “after the destruction of Israel in 69 CE, Jews were commanded to await divine redemption and prohibited from conquering the land.”

Rabbi Dovid Shlome Eckstein called the letter timely and important in an era “when many Jews in our community are upset over the militant Zionist groups who appear to be representing Orthodox Jews.”