On the eve of the Sukkot festival, just prior to his passing away, former Chief Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Merkaz HaRav Kook religious-Zionist center Rabbi Avraham Shapira signed a strongly-worded statement. “The Land of Israel belongs to the Nation of Israel and was granted to us as an inheritance by the Creator of the world. Neither the Prime Minister nor anybody else has the right to give away areas, or even a grain, of the holy Land of Israel. The entire Land of Israel, according to the borders outlined in the Torah – belonged in the past, and belong in the present and future, only to the Nation of Israel, and it is forbidden by severe Torah prohibition to give up any of the territory of our holy land.”

In the opening shot of the battle for Jerusalem, top rabbis of the Hareidi-religious and Jerusalemite communities have joined Rabbi Avraham Shapira’s final statement against dividing Jerusalem.

A large gathering planned for Sunday at the Ramban Synagogue in the Old City is being organized by Chief Rabbi of the Old City, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl and Rabbi Eliyahu Medina. Joining the protest is Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, considered the head of the Lithuanian Hareidi-religious public.

The assembly is being called under the banner “Over Jerusalem they cast lots” – a verse from Ovadiah (1:11) – and will include “prayers and supplications to G-d.”