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National Council of Young Israel President Shlomo Z. Mostofsky, Esq., made the following statement today in response to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s comments during his trip to Israel, in which he called on Israel to stop constructing new homes and to expel the Jews from Judea and Samaria, and said that “[t]here cannot be peace without recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of two states:”
“The National Council of Young Israel is outraged at the insensitivity that President Sarkozy displayed during his current visit to Israel. At the same time that he was addressing the Knesset and declaring that France was a friend of Israel, President Sarkozy had the audacity to call on Israel to take steps that would inevitably jeopardize the safety and security of its citizens. Just as the Israeli Prime Minister would not call on France to relinquish half of Paris to its enemy, or even to a friend for that matter, President Sarkozy has no standing and no right to call on Israel to cede control of its capital to people intent on destroying its citizenry. The French President has no business suggesting that Israel divide that which is indivisible. Israel can agree to a divided Jerusalem no more than General Charles de Gaulle and the French were able to agree to a divided France under the Nazis during Work War II. The position of the National Council of Young Israel continues to be that there can be no division of Jerusalem at any time, under any circumstances.
The National Council of Young Israel is also appalled that President Sarkozy chose to advocate the expulsion of Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria. As we saw from the Israeli government’s failed experiment with Gush Katif, forcing Jews from their homes and relinquishing the land to the Palestinians does not lead to peace. President Sarkozy may think that he has all the answers to the current situation in Israel, but until he stops looking at things through the eyes of the Palestinians and develops a true understanding of the nature of the conflict and the need for Israel to defend itself, he should refrain from making suggestions and advocating positions that threaten the future of the Jewish state.”
