Hassan
Rouhani's message to mark start of Jewish new year unexpected in Israel, which
has identified Iran as security threat
theguardian.com,
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem, Thursday 5 September 2013
 |
| Hassan Rouhani has vowed to tone down the 'hate rhetoric' used by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photograph: Ahmad Halabisaz/ Xinhua Press/Corbis |
Amid a
global exchange of greetings and good wishes to mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish
new year, which began at sunset on Wednesday, there was one from a particularly
surprising quarter.
The Iranian
president, Hassan Rouhani, tweeted: "As the sun is about to set here in
#Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh
Hashanah."
The tweet
was accompanied by a picture of an Iranian Jew praying at a synagogue in
Tehran.
According
to a 2012 census, there are fewer than 9,000 Jews among Iran's population of
about 75 million.
The message
from Rouhani was unexpected in Israel, which has identified Iran as a huge
threat to its security. It says the regime is developing a nuclear weapons
programme that could be used to annihilate the Jewish state.
Rouhani,
who was elected in June, has pledged to tone down the "hate rhetoric"
used by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The US
president, Barack Obama, also sent new year greetings to Jews around the world,
wishing them "shana tova" from the Great Synagogue in Stockholm
during a stopover en route to the G20 summit in Moscow.
Other
wellwishers included the British prime minister, David Cameron, who sent
"best wishes to Jewish communities in the UK and around the world
observing the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur".
His message
continued: "At this important time for the Jewish faith let us join you in
praying for a new year that will achieve progress towards a lasting peace for
Israel and the Middle East."
Rosh
Hashanah marks the start of the year 5774 in the Jewish calendar and about a
month of religious holidays. Yom Kippur, the solemn day of atonement and
fasting for Jews, begins at sunset next Friday. It is followed by Sukkot, or
the Feast of the Tabernacles, an eight-day holiday in which observant Jews take
meals in a sukkah, an outdoor structure traditionally covered in palm fronds.
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