There is a Moroccan proverb that says that the more spices you add to the food, the more you enhance the flavor.
This was told to President Isaac Herzog on Monday by a member of a delegation of imams from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK. All of them engage in interfaith work; at least half have a Moroccan background, but all reside in Europe.
Herzog interpreted the proverb in its Israeli context, saying that Israel’s citizens include immigrants from most countries in the Arab world, each bringing with them some of the customs and traditions of the places from which they came.
The president greeted his guests in Arabic and then continued in Hebrew, “We are all the children of Abraham.” He added that when he had visited the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba on the day following Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Jewish and Arab staff were working together in treating the wounded and the injured.
Led by imam Hassen Chalghoumi, the chairman of the Conference of Imams of France and the chair of People for Peace, the group is in Israel under the auspices of ELNET, a European, pro-Israel NGO advocacy group, which, through its activities, helps its partners in Europe to become more active and confident in countering anti-Israel sentiments.
