Israel will attend a high-level interfaith meeting sponsored by Saudi Arabia that is set to be held at the United Nations in November.
The conference, formally organized by the president of the U.N.’s General Assembly, is a follow-up to another Saudi-sponsored interfaith meeting held in Spain over the summer. Israeli officials were not invited to attend that meeting.
An Israeli official told the Forward that Israeli officials would participate in the November 13 interfaith dialogue and is considering which senior official will come to New York for the event. President Shimon Peres and foreign minister Tzipi Livni are the most likely candidates though much will depend on the political situation in Israel, where elections have been called.
The Saudi King is set to attend, as is President Bush.
“The President appreciates King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s initiative in calling for this dialogue and remains committed to fostering interfaith harmony among all religions, both at home and abroad,” the White House said in a statement issued on October 29.
The Madrid meeting in July brought together representatives of major faiths. The run-up to the conference was marked by a dispute involving Rabbi David Rosen, who is based in Jerusalem and holds dual Israeli and Irish citizenship. The Saudi organizers eventually decided to list Rosen as American in the conference literature, prompting criticism from Israeli officials.
The Saudi king has been promoting interfaith dialogue as a way to counter the influence of radical strains within Islam. Saudi Arabia’s tepid record on religious freedom, however, has been criticized. In its statement, the White House made a point in stating that “the United States affirms its support for individual religious freedom, the right to practice one’s religion, the equality of all people regardless of their religious faith, and the other principles of religious freedom enshrined in the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
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