On behalf of the leadership, membership and the member organizations, the American Zionist Movement expresses its support and solidarity with the families of the three Israeli teenagers, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, kidnapped last week while hitchhiking home.
There are few acts more heinous than threatening the lives and well-being of the young and innocent and there is no excuse for this reprehensible act. We wait for news and pray for their quick and safe return. AZM hopes for the success of the IDF and the leadership in Israel working around the clock to bring about their safe return. We urge our American leadership to work towards bringing this episode to a swift conclusion without loss of life or violence. We encourage the Jewish community to stand shoulder to shoulder expressing concern personally and communally through vigils, prayer services and other peaceful forms of communal action to raise awareness.
Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, President Karen Rubinstein, Executive Director