WikiLeaks Exposes Chabad Rabbi’s Talks with Iran
A London rabbi spoke this week of his deep regret that his secret negotiations with the Iranian regime had been published by WikiLeaks.
For the past 16 years, Rabbi Herschel Gluck of Stoke Newington has been involved in back-channel shuttle diplomacy with a variety of governments on a plethora of subjects, not always on specifically Jewish issues.
He has had a number of successes during his negotiations but this week Rabbi Gluck described WikiLeaks’ decision to publish unredacted details of his discussions with Iranian leaders, said to have been held with the knowledge of both Israel and the United States, as “deeply irresponsible”.
The WikiLeaks material relates to a series of talks that Rabbi Gluck had with the Iranians in 2009. They were held with Ayatollah Syed Salman Safavi, brother of the military adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei, Rehman Safavi, and related specifically to the fate of Israeli hostages thought to be held by Hizbollah or Hamas.
The talks are understood to have taken place with the blessing of the Israeli government, and were designed to try to establish what may have happened to the airman, Ron Arad, and to the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The content of the talks is detailed in cables from a diplomat at the American Embassy in London and sent to the US State Department in Washington.
Rabbi Gluck, who refused to confim the accuracy of the material, said that the publication of the unredacted cables by WikiLeaks was very disappointing.
“There is no way that this type of material should be allowed into the public domain,” he said. “I understand the argument about transparency but when people’s lives are at stake, that is a totally different ballgame.”
Asked what would be the effect of the publication of the material, Rabbi Gluck sighed. “It is certainly not helpful,” he said. “It is certainly far from ideal. And it will certainly impede open and frank discussions in the future.”
Once described as “the ambassador of peace”, Rabbi Gluck has an international reputation forged by his ability, as an Orthodox Jew, to reach across religious and political boundaries. Chairman and founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum, he has negotiated with both sides in the Sudan conflict and with all sides in former Yugoslavia.
His hard-won good relations with the Muslim community have allowed him unprecedented access to people and places not available either to the mainstream Jewish community or, as in this case, the Israeli government.
But this time, Rabbi Gluck fears, WikiLeaks have gone too far.
horrible, horrible man
This guy is nuts. He is very entrenched in the islamic community and thinks he is some sort of super hero. I wouldn’t trust him.
whatever rabbi
there’s no making peace with terrorists. get over it.
not in CH
# 1 ,just from reading this article he does not sound like some Neture Karta person, unless you know better, which i doubt why call him a nut, I suspect he was not holding these discussions on his own.“”The talks are understood to have taken place with the blessing of the Israeli government“”
mike
This guy is a total fraud! He only cares about one thing: His name being in the news.
shloime freundlich
To comment one ,I know Rabbi Herschel Gluck well,I met him in London just last week.He is very smart and knows what he is doing.Just becase he is not rightwing does not make him untrust worthy .He is very learned and well read.He has brought to Judaism many Jews all over Europe ,i have met some of them who have great respect for him ,he has read nearly all the Rebbe said and wrote ,the Rebbe sent him on many Missions I saw many ansers to him .he thinks out the box
16 year progress?
Sounds like he has been doing great Iran is still trying to kill every Israeli and they are makeing a nuke bomb.
Obama should make him an ambassador.
To # 3
Yes, I do know better, very very personally better. Believe me what I am saying is true. The guy is a fraud and doesn’t care whose toes he steps on to get where he wants.
Milhouse
What are you people on about? It’s called shtadlonus, and it’s an essential Jewish activity. We’ve had shtadlonim since the days of Mitzrayim. Nechemya was a shtadlan, and the Sanhedrin gave him a heter to drink goyishe wine in order to do his job! The Shulchon Oruch gives a similar heter for shtadlonim to wear goyishe clothes, and even shaatnez if they have to. R Michoel Ber Weissmandel was a shtadlon who managed to save thousands of lives during the Holocaust, by conducting negotiations with the Nazis and paying them bribes to let yidden go.
The very fact that this was in a diplomatic cable from the American embassy in London to the State Department means that the negotiations were being coordinated with at least the American government. And of course the Israeli government sanctions and coordinates many unofficial links with Iran and other enemy governments.
As for Rabbi Gluck’s lack of success so far in getting news about Ron Arad, so what? Do you say the same about the Rebbe’s shluchim who have had no success in freeing the seforim from Russia? You have to try, and sometimes you succeed.
Delph
In response to the negative comments:
What is there in this article that implies anything negative about Rabbi Gluck? His negotiations were held with the blessing of both Israel and the USA. Cozying up to the Arabs? He has NEVER come out in public in support of ANY Arab cause! Nothing that was written in the article gives the impression that he is out to make a name for himself! On the contrary, if not for Wikileaks, you would never have heard of him!
So please, stop with the knee-jerk responses!
chaim
to me it seems that this man is trying rather then bashing. not just speaking about peace but doing something.
Please.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about, maybe you shouldn’t talk. As far as I can see, you are just reacting, most of you, without knowing the facts. And as to KNOWING he is a fraud, you have not related ANY facts to that effect. I agree that sometimes one needs to think outside the box to have an positive effect, and if his contacts are either neutral or positive in effect, then what are you kvetching about. Furthermore, if they are negative, then cite the specific negativity. Thank you.
brett
I know Rabbi Gluck personally and he is a very descent person, if he was involved in anything, it would have been with the best intentions!