Rabbi Menachem Froman

The general, the rabbi and the Holy Spirit

By Akiva Eldar

Ha'aretz
Wednesday, October 01, 2003 / Tishrei 5 5764

The happy news that General Nasser Yussef has been selected as interior minister in the new Palestinian government being formed by Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) reached the ears of Rabbi Menachem Froman just a short time after he heard tragic news. His dear pupil, Eyal Yeverbaum, had been killed on Friday night in an attack on the West Bank settlement of Negohot.

The belief that his beloved friend Abu Yussef, as he calls the veteran Palestinian fighter, would do everything he can to end the suffering offered some comfort to the veteran settler.

Froman, rabbi of the settlement of Tekoa and a champion of inter-religious reconciliation, introduced himself to Yussef a short time after the refugee from a small village near Beit She'an in the north arrived in the Gaza Strip from Tunis, following the signing of the Oslo Accords along with other members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Froman was surprised to find in the Palestinian military man an eager partner in cultural-religious reconciliation between Muslims and Jews. Ever since, despite the terror attacks and the assassinations, they and their families have been inseparable. They often prayed together, each man reciting his own prayers. Seven years ago, Yussef served as the go-between in a series of meetings between Froman and Dr. Mahmoud a-Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza. They signed a peace deal which was essentially, the first hudna (cease-fire). The Al-Aqsa Intifada, however, disrupted the apple cart and turned the hudna into the Oslo Accords' main competitor in the battle for last place in the rating table of agreements.

The settler rabbi says that the belief in peace through respect and freedom for both peoples living in the Holy Land still burns in Yussef. He is convinced that this belief will guide Yussef's efforts to put the demon of national extremism firmly back in its bottle.

"Abu Yussef is a very religious man in his world outlook," says Froman. "The inference here is not in the usual sense of someone who keeps the tradition, but a man for whom the godly interest touches his soul and who perseveres in his study of the roots of Islam. These meeting points enable us to hold a dialogue, not between an Israeli and a PLO member, but between one religious man and another religious man and here we have an almost identical outlook. I am happy he got the office. For the last 20 years I have said over and over that without taking into account the religious-cultural factor, we cannot solve the conflict.

"I have found a partner in him to the belief that a political solution which ignores the need for coexistence between out cultures is destined to fail," continues Froman. "According to our outlook, the solution to some problems should be left to God. Such an approach enables us to bypass the chasm between the Palestinians and our positions on a host of issues, from the settlements to the right of return. [Former prime minister] Ehud Barak failed because he adopted a totally secular approach that sees politicians as contractors to totally solve the conflict."

Froman believes his Muslim friend's religious reputation will make it easier for him to deal with Muslim extremists. "No Arab or Muslim leader can deal with Hamas better than him," Froman insists. "He can tell them in their own language that they are desecrating the name [of God]."

Hamas has not forgotten how Yussef mercilessly hit out at them following a wave of terror attacks in early 1996. Even though Mohammed Dahlan never touched them during his time as interior minister, Hamas leaders did not join in the protests against replacing the dandy youngster with the humble general.

Froman insists that Yussef's vision is far more effective that assassinating a few murderers who give up their lives to glorify the name of Islam. He believes that it is in the Palestinian interest to be the peace-loving flag-flyers of Islam and not turn into a small Muslim-Arab nation like Jordan neighboring a Jewish-Israeli nation.

Froman, a graduate of Haifa's Reali High School, suggests that the Americans, who have got themselves into a bit of hot water with a series of battles with Islamic organizations and states, pay attention to the new interior minister.

"The focus of his life has been to bring about peace between Muslims and the Arab world. A long time before September 11, he spoke to me about the need for Muslims to find their place in the modern world and bring about as quickly as possible a coexistence between the civilizations. He sees an Israeli-Palestinian agreement as a kind of laboratory which will offer a model that can save President George W. Bush from the mess he has got himself into in Afghanistan and Iraq."

The rabbi and the general, along with other spiritual leaders, have already provided the foundations for this model.

They have set up an executive committee of rabbis and imams, spiritual leaders, writers and artists which will carry out a inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue alongside the peace talks in better times.