Chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni met this week with the new British ambassador to Israel, Mr. David Quarrey, and gave him an appraisal of chareidi Jewish basic positions. He said that he would be glad to work together with him as he has previous ambassadors and to meet occasionally with him several times as in the past.
The new ambassador concurred that he had heard of the solid and productive relationship Rabbi Gafni had enjoyed with his predecessor, Matthew Gould, and would likewise be happy to get to become better acquainted with this sector of the population which constitutes such a significant part of the Israeli public.
MK Gafni told him that throughout the years, chareidi Jewry has always expressed its opposition to all forms of provocation against foreign countries while supporting the advancement of cautious political negotiations. "We believe that diplomatic negotiations must, indeed, be circumspect and geared to cooperation with those countries friendly with Israel, like the U.S., Germany and Britain, and should be cemented with them rather than attempting to arrive at public diplomatic confrontations," he said, adding that the chareidi public supports the international efforts being made to prevent bloodshed in this region.
He further outlined to the ambassador the central legislation which has led in these recent years to tremendous strides forward in the economic, social, welfare, education, environment and many other areas, together with the efforts of the other chareidi Knesset representatives, noting that today, the entire Israeli public knows that the representatives of the United Torah Jewry party are not interested only in favoring their voters but in serving the general Israeli community, and today, as opposed to the past, the general public realizes and recognizes this fact.
The ambassador said that he has heard much about the huge scope of welfare efforts carried on by the chareidi and Torah adherent sector, upon which Rabbi Gafni invited him to meet with and get to know more intimately this very sector at first hand. "We will surely be glad to work together with you as we have done in the past," he concluded.
