World Jewish Congress Outlines Position on Iran

The meeting ended with the WJC calling on the international community to force Iran to abandon any nuclear ambitions, and with an appeal to the radical Palestinian Hamas movement to renouce violence.

"Iran is a danger for the whole world," WJC chairman Israel Singer told reporters after the one-day meeting of the US-based organization.

Secretary general Stephen Herbits said the WJC supported efforts by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany to negotiate with Tehran, but believed there was no solution in sight yet.

"It is a very difficult process. Things are fluid. People have a
sense of direction, but there is no clear path," he told a press
conference.

"They must stay together and act in concert in their approach to Iran."

Herbits said the international community must deal not only with Tehran's perceived nuclear drive, but with its hardline policies on a whole.

"Firstly there is the nuclear issue. But secondly we have to make Iran grow as part of the world community in that it restrains its activities and engages with world organizations," he said.

The WJC leaders said they would have meetings with Jewish
communities around the world and with international policymakers to help to shape efforts on the Middle East.

But the organization, which met to inaugurate a new policy
council on Wednesday, ruled out any direct talks with Tehran.

Escalation of tensions

Ahead of the meeting, the new president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, said Iran was to blame for the escalation of tensions in the region because it has consistently backed the radical Palestinian movement Hamas against Israel.

Knobloch, who is a vice president of the WJC, urged the West to isolate Iran, and said its reluctance to do so was based on economic considerations.

"Only when Iran has been isolated and that has proven successful will we see real progress," she said.

A spokeswoman for the WJC said Wednesday's meeting was the first time a newly-formed policy council for the world body was convening.

Appeal to Hamas

The WJC leaders deplored the escalation of tension in the Middle East and said the only solution would be to bring Hamas to reject violence so that a safe Palestinian state could arise alongside Israel.

"We need a two-state solution but unfortunately this has become more difficult to achieve now than six months ago," Herbits said, adding that the main Palestinian political movement must therefore "renounce violence and terror."

"If you have no viable state next to Israel, then Israel's ability to be a stable durable state is in danger," he said.

Interfaith dialogue

The meeting was also attended by non-members of the WJC who have worked to further Jewish causes and promote a dialogue between Jews and Muslims, such as former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer and retired French politician, Holocaust survivor and former president of the European parliament, Simone Weil.

Patrick Desbois, the secretary general of France's Catholic Bishops Committee for Relations with Jews, said the meeting marked the first time that the Jewish community had called on public figures from all beliefs to help it formulate policies.

"It is without precedent," he told AFP.