In recent days, the Greater Washington, D.C. and South Africa Beit Shemesh partnership has published announcements in the local press calling on the general public to submit proposals for dialogue and cooperation programs that support the vision of Beit Shemesh as a city belonging to all its resident communities. The goal is to offer financial support to “ideas of lasting influence on the city, which will encourage moderates in the various communities to raise their voices, and which will lead to measurable results.”

The two communities are sister communities with Beit Shemesh through the Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether program.

Jewish Agency Chairman of the Executive Natan Sharansky said, “There is only one long-term solution – dialogue. We are one people and cannot keep ignoring one another. Israeli society can and must bring those who resort to violence to justice, but the long-term solution does not rest with law enforcement. At the end of the day, all the different communities and segments of the Jewish people and of Israeli society must learn to communicate with one another.”