Israel President Hosts European Muslim Clerics
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 12, 2024. ©Saul Loeb / AFP

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he met with a delegation of European Muslim clerics in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss reconciliation and religious coexistence as war rages in Gaza.

"This morning at the President's Residence, I hosted important Muslim leaders from across Europe," Herzog said in a post on X.

Herzog praised the delegation led by French Imam Hassen Chalghoumi for choosing a path of "bridge-building, dialogue, and belief" at a time of "tension between Jews and Muslims."

Clerics from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain, and Italy took part in the visit, according to Israeli media.

Chalghoumi, imam for the Paris suburb of Drancy, took part in several protests denouncing Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. He also participated in rallies against antisemitism.

Monday's visit was organized by the European Leadership Network (ELNET), a group that defines itself as "dedicated to strengthening relations between Europe and Israel."

ELNET organized a rally in Paris in March "against Islamism," drawing a crowd of 2,000 people, including right-wing and far-right public figures.

AFP

 

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