Rabbi Ovadia Yosef 'Was Willing To Give Back the Temple Mount'
David Glass, Shas Party legal adviser, reveals in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef preferred peace to land in dealing with the Palestinians.
Attorney David Glass, 77, is better known in the media by his official title, “the legal adviser of the Shas Party.” He acquired a reputation as a confidante of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and as the spiritual leader’s point of contact with the political world. Not many know that Glass is a unique mixture in Israeli politics: he’s a Zionist, religious, left-wing Ashkenazi (of European origin) who pulls the strings of an ultra-Orthodox Sephardi (of North African and Asian origin) party.
Glass is part of the Geneva Initiative, a 2003 peace agreement with the Palestinians based on the 1967 borders with slight mutual border alterations and the division of Jerusalem. He is a frequent flyer to peace meetings with Arab leaders and works tirelessly to instill the values of peace and reconciliation in Has activists. The veteran attorney, who served a director-general of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (1974-1977) and chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution and Law Committee (1977-1981), once told me that his life’s dream is to wake up in his Jerusalem home, get in his car and drive to Europe. Yes, in return for peace, Glass is willing to give back the Golan Heights to Syria.
Several hours after accompanying his rabbi and hero to his eternal resting place (on Oct. 7), Glass told Al-Monitor about the rabbi’s views on matters of war and peace.
Al-Monitor: What was the genesis of the rabbi’s groundbreaking halachic ruling in favor of territorial compromise?
