Menachem Froman
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Menachem Froman, also Menahem or Fruman ( born 1945 in the Galilee
), is an Israel
i Orthodox
rabbi
and a peacemaker and negotiator with close ties to Palestinian religious leaders from the PLO and Hamas
. A founding member of Gush Emunim
, he serves today as the chief rabbi of Tekoa
in the West Bank
. He is well-known for promoting and leading interfaith dialogue between Israel
i Jews and Palestinians, focusing on using religion as a tool and source for recognizing the humanity and dignity of all Palestinians. Together with a Palestinian journalist close to Hamas, Rabbi Froman has drafted a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip
, known as the Froman-Amayreh Agreement
. The agreement was endorsed by Hamas government but has yet to receive any official response from the Israeli government.
who took part in the 1967 capture of the Western Wall
, was a student at the Mercaz haRav
and Yeshivat HaKotel
yeshiva
s. He was among the founders of the Gush Emunim settlement movement and supported the establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He obtained rabbinical ordination
from Rabbis Shlomo Goren
and Avraham Shapira
and then became the rabbi of Migdal Oz
, a settlement in the Gush Etzion area. He was Chief Rabbi of the Knesset (Israel Parliamnet). He has taught at several yeshivas including Ateret Cohanim
and Machon Meir
, and is currently a lecturer at the Tekoa Yeshiva and Otniel
hesder
Yeshiva.
. He argues that peacemaking efforts between Israel and the Palestinians must include the religious sectors of both societies. Froman conducted meetings with controversial Palestinian leaders, including with the late PLO Chairman and President of Palestinian National Authority
Yasser Arafat
, and the late Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Froman maintains close ties with Palestinian leaders, as evidenced by a letter he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
about his last conversation with Yasser Arafat:
Since the election of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Rabbi Froman stepped up his efforts to organize meetings between Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. He has met and conducted negotiations with current Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar
and Hamas's Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Sheikh Mahmoud Abu Tir, with the goal of drafting a ceasefire agreement that will end the killings in Gaza and the West Bank and lift the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
, and end the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip. Senior Hamas officials have endorsed the agreement. The Israeli government, however, has not responded to this initiative, effectively rejecting it.
Froman drafted the agreement with Amayreh, after meeting with him over the course of several months. The agreement was finalized and shown to Hamas leaders in Gaza and Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshal who approved of the agreement (see External links section). The agreement was also submitted to the Israeli government but according to Froman, the Israeli government never responded to it. The efforts of Froman and Amayreh to meet with Israeli government officials were rebuffed.
The agreement calls for Israel to lift economic sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip and open all border crossings. The cease-fire agreement includes the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and a gradual release of Palestinian prisoners. The Israel Defense Forces would end "all hostile activities toward the Gaza Strip, including targeted killing
s, the setting of ambushes, aerial bombardments and all penetrations into Gazan territory, in addition to ending the arrest, detention and persecution of Palestinians in the Strip."
The Palestinians would be obligated "to take all the necessary steps to completely end the attacks against Israel," including stopping "indefinitely all rocket attacks on Israel," assaults "on Israeli civilians and soldiers" and "to impose a cease-fire on all groups, factions and individuals operating in the Strip."
Froman and Amayreh say that even if the attempt turns out to be merely an academic exercise, its elements could be used by the Jerusalem and Gaza governments. It does not, for example, include the recognition by Hamas of the State of Israel, instead "recognizing that there are Jews living in the Holy Land," according to Froman, thus overcoming an obstacle that has long been a deal-breaker.
on the tendency of Israeli and Palestinian secular negotiators to ignore and marginalize religion and religious leaders in the peace process:
. In his 2005 letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
, Froman cites examples from Jewish tradition of the importance of sharing Jerusalem between all 3 religions and turning it into a city of peace:
:
He was a strong opponent of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
. In August 2005, prior to its implementation, he moved with his family to Ganei Tal
in Gush Katif
in order to show support for the residents being evicted.
Froman supports the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to attain statehood recognition at the United Nations on September 20, 2011 and has said that the establishment of Palestinian state will benefit peace process and Israel.
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
), is an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and a peacemaker and negotiator with close ties to Palestinian religious leaders from the PLO and Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. A founding member of Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
, he serves today as the chief rabbi of Tekoa
Tekoa (town)
Tekoa is an Israeli Jewish communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the northern Judean hills in the West Bank. Tekoa is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. He is well-known for promoting and leading interfaith dialogue between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Jews and Palestinians, focusing on using religion as a tool and source for recognizing the humanity and dignity of all Palestinians. Together with a Palestinian journalist close to Hamas, Rabbi Froman has drafted a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, known as the Froman-Amayreh Agreement
Froman-Amayreh Agreement
In February 2008, Rabbi Menachem Froman, chief rabbi of Tekoa in the West Bank, and Khaled Amayreh, a journalist close to Hamas, reached an agreement for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would put an immediate end to all Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians or soldiers,...
. The agreement was endorsed by Hamas government but has yet to receive any official response from the Israeli government.
Career
Froman, a former Israel Defence Forces paratrooperParatroopers Brigade (IDF)
The Paratroopers Brigade , also known as the 35th Brigade, is a unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces , and forms a major part of the Infantry Corps....
who took part in the 1967 capture of the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
, was a student at the Mercaz haRav
Mercaz haRav
Mercaz HaRav , more properly, Mercaz HaRav Kook ), is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It has become synonymous with his teachings....
and Yeshivat HaKotel
Yeshivat Hakotel
Yeshivat Hakotel is a modern-Orthodox religious Zionist hesder yeshiva situated in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was built in 1857. The yeshiva overlooks the Kotel ; hence its name. The Yeshiva is famous among tourists and tour guides for its entrance to the prayer plaza at the Kotel on Sabbath...
yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s. He was among the founders of the Gush Emunim settlement movement and supported the establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He obtained rabbinical ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
from Rabbis Shlomo Goren
Shlomo Goren
Shlomo Goren , was an Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.He served in the Israel Defense Forces during three wars,...
and Avraham Shapira
Avraham Shapira
Avraham Elkanah Kahana Shapira was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a member and the head of the Supreme Rabbinic Court. He served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993...
and then became the rabbi of Migdal Oz
Migdal Oz
Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women, commonly known as Migdal Oz , is an Orthodox Jewish institution of higher Torah study for women located in the Israeli settlement and Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion in the West Bank.-Overview:...
, a settlement in the Gush Etzion area. He was Chief Rabbi of the Knesset (Israel Parliamnet). He has taught at several yeshivas including Ateret Cohanim
Ateret Cohanim
Ateret Cohanim, , also known as Ateret Yerushalyim, is a Religious Zionist yeshiva located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel. Founded in 1978, it uses the building of the historic Torath Chaim Yeshiva...
and Machon Meir
Machon Meir
Machon Meir' is a religious Zionist outreach organization and yeshiva situated in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe, close to Givat Shaul...
, and is currently a lecturer at the Tekoa Yeshiva and Otniel
Otniel (village)
Otniel is a Jewish Orthodox Israeli settlement in the southern Judean hills, south of Hebron in the West Bank. It is under the jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. Approximately 110 families live in Otniel...
hesder
Hesder
Hesder is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework...
Yeshiva.
Interfaith meetings and dialogue
Rabbi Froman has long been involved in interfaith dialogue with Palestinians and Muslims, and has participated in informal negotiations with many Palestinian leaders, including from HamasHamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. He argues that peacemaking efforts between Israel and the Palestinians must include the religious sectors of both societies. Froman conducted meetings with controversial Palestinian leaders, including with the late PLO Chairman and President of Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, and the late Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Froman maintains close ties with Palestinian leaders, as evidenced by a letter he sent to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
about his last conversation with Yasser Arafat:
Since the election of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Rabbi Froman stepped up his efforts to organize meetings between Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. He has met and conducted negotiations with current Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Since the formation of the Hamas/"Change and Reform" government in the Palestinian National Authority in March 2006, al-Zahar has served as foreign minister in the government of prime minister Ismail...
and Hamas's Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Sheikh Mahmoud Abu Tir, with the goal of drafting a ceasefire agreement that will end the killings in Gaza and the West Bank and lift the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
Froman-Amayreh Agreement
In February 2008, Rabbi Froman reached an agreement with Khaled Amayreh, a journalist close to Hamas, for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would put an immediate end to all Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians or soldiers, facilitate the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad ShalitGilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...
, and end the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip. Senior Hamas officials have endorsed the agreement. The Israeli government, however, has not responded to this initiative, effectively rejecting it.
Froman drafted the agreement with Amayreh, after meeting with him over the course of several months. The agreement was finalized and shown to Hamas leaders in Gaza and Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshal who approved of the agreement (see External links section). The agreement was also submitted to the Israeli government but according to Froman, the Israeli government never responded to it. The efforts of Froman and Amayreh to meet with Israeli government officials were rebuffed.
The agreement calls for Israel to lift economic sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip and open all border crossings. The cease-fire agreement includes the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and a gradual release of Palestinian prisoners. The Israel Defense Forces would end "all hostile activities toward the Gaza Strip, including targeted killing
Targeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
s, the setting of ambushes, aerial bombardments and all penetrations into Gazan territory, in addition to ending the arrest, detention and persecution of Palestinians in the Strip."
The Palestinians would be obligated "to take all the necessary steps to completely end the attacks against Israel," including stopping "indefinitely all rocket attacks on Israel," assaults "on Israeli civilians and soldiers" and "to impose a cease-fire on all groups, factions and individuals operating in the Strip."
Froman and Amayreh say that even if the attempt turns out to be merely an academic exercise, its elements could be used by the Jerusalem and Gaza governments. It does not, for example, include the recognition by Hamas of the State of Israel, instead "recognizing that there are Jews living in the Holy Land," according to Froman, thus overcoming an obstacle that has long been a deal-breaker.
Israeli refusal to negotiate with Hamas
As of May 2008, the Israeli government has not responded or commented on the Froman-Amayreh Agreement, ignoring the non-sanctioned individual efforts of Rabbi Froman and journalist Amayreh. Rabbi Froman believes that his efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire are being undermined by what he sees as a stubborn Israeli refusal to engage in negotiations with Hamas. Citing declarations made to him by Yassin and al-Zahar of their readiness for a cease-fire and negotiations with Israel, Froman has commented:The importance of religion in the peace process
Rabbi Froman laments the current violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and lays partial blame for the failure of the Oslo AccordsOslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
on the tendency of Israeli and Palestinian secular negotiators to ignore and marginalize religion and religious leaders in the peace process:
Jerusalem - a shared capital
Froman supports making Jerusalem, the current capital of Israel, the religious capital of all three monotheistic faiths. In November 1999, he participated in a conference with dozens of international religious leaders including the Dalai LamaDalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
. In his 2005 letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
, Froman cites examples from Jewish tradition of the importance of sharing Jerusalem between all 3 religions and turning it into a city of peace:
- From the difficult experience of the shared history of the two nations – the Israel nation and the Palestinian nation – we can learn one important thing – between two brothers – when one's fate is bad, the fate is also bad of the second. Only when it is good for one, it will be, with God's help, good for its double. Little Jewish children know the famous story (the hadith) of the man who came to the head of the Jewish Sages and asked him to teach him the principle of the Jewish religion while he was standing on one foot (in one sentence). The Sage taught him, "Love your neighbor exactly how you would love yourself...From this hadith, which summarized the main principle of our religion, it's possible to learn that just as Jews have obtained a free and thriving state from Allah the Exalted, respected in the world, and just as we obtained from Allah the Exalted a state with Jerusalem as its capital, our neighbor will also obtain a state with its capital as Jerusalem. If both nations will be fortunate to stone the Cursed Satan who stimulates war and hate, and establish Jerusalem as a capital of peace of Israel and Palestine, there will be, God Willing, Jerusalem the Capital of Peace for the whole world!
Coexistence under Palestinian sovereignty
Froman opposes the forced eviction of Jewish settlers from their homes in the settlements in the West Bank and advocates that the State of Israel can withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza yet leave the settlements and Israeli/Jewish residents in place under Palestinian sovereignty. He claims that if Israel withdraws from Tekoa and most residents leave, he will nonetheless stay because of his love of the Land of IsraelLand of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
:
"But what matters is the holiness of this land. I prefer to live here in a future Palestine than leave to live in an Israeli state."
He was a strong opponent of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
. In August 2005, prior to its implementation, he moved with his family to Ganei Tal
Ganei Tal
Ganei Tal was an Israeli settlement in the south of the Gaza Strip. Located in the Gush Katif settlement bloc, it was established as a moshav in 1979 with a primarily agricultural purpose; exporting geraniums and tomatoes to Europe. It had a population of some 75 families, or 500 people.Lined...
in Gush Katif
Gush Katif
Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. Gush Katif was specifically mentioned by Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who fell victim to an assassin in 1995, as essential to Israel's security border. In August 2005, the Israeli army moved the 8,600...
in order to show support for the residents being evicted.
Froman supports the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to attain statehood recognition at the United Nations on September 20, 2011 and has said that the establishment of Palestinian state will benefit peace process and Israel.