The Jewish community needs to unite and heal the wounds after a “vicious and beyond the pale” debate over the Iran nuclear deal, Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, said during a speech at the General Assembly in DC on Monday.
“Too much of the language was vicious and beyond the pale, and has no place in our community,” Silverman said. “It is imperative as we think forward and work to heal the wounds from that debate.”
Going forward, he said, “Let’s reinforce that Jewish Federations are places for diversity, evolving and adapting as North American Jews grow and change their perceptions of themselves, of Judaism, and of the world. We don’t need to be unanimous in our opinions, what we do need to be is unified as a community. Let’s remember that for all the trauma of the past year, our Jewish Federations and agencies continued their daily work in local communities educating our children, caring for our vulnerable, assisting our elderly and ensuring that our vital work continues in Israel and around the world.”
The comments were made hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama concluded a two-hour meeting at the White House, a meeting described as productive and tensionless.
Israel’s Opposition Leader Issac Herzog, who also spoke at the gathering, said, “I sincerely hope that what comes out of the meeting has to do first and foremost with strengthening and fostering Israel’s security.”
Herzog expressed hope that the “vociferous debate” between the two leaders “is behind us.”
“I think we must go back, we must return to intimate relationships between the Oval Office and the Prime Minister’s Office,” he stressed.
