Rabbi Weill's Blog

Dear Friends,

Foreign ministers of four Arab nations – Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates – met with their Israeli counterparts in the south of Israel. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken joined them for this historic “Negev Summit.”

And then came the knifings and the shootings. Instead of viewing this historic summit as a possibility of what might be, Palestinian leaders find it threatening. So they sent terrorists out to kill Jews; more than a dozen innocent Israelis have been murdered, most in the prime of their lives.

Terrorist groups, meanwhile, hail their comrades as martyrs and hand out candy to celebrate these heinous deeds.

This is the work of evil. No amount of explaining can justify it. Don’t even try.

The only glimmer of hope to come from these horrific crimes is that each of those Arab foreign ministers released strong statements of condemnation. Here is the statement from Sameh Shoukry, foreign minister of Egypt: “We have on every occasion condemned all who resort to violence, to terrorism, to incitement, and believe that it is our role as members of the international community, but also as Arab states, states where there is a Muslim majority … that we need to address the religious narrative and to confront extremism and terrorism and thereby provide peace and security for our region.”

Other leaders throughout the world – including representatives of the United Nations – have strongly condemned these terror attacks.

We mourn with the families of the victims; we pray for the healing of the wounded; and we stand with Israel.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Jeffrey Weill