Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Rabbi Jonathan SacksReuters

Knesset Opposition head MK Yair Lapid and former British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks shared messages of Jewish unity ahead of the fast of Tisha B'Av Wednesday.

"Lord Rabbi Sacks is an orthodox Rabbi from London and I'm a secular Israeli," Lapid tweeted, "We look different, we sound different and our lives are very different but we share a love for the Jewish people and a belief in the power of dialogue to bring about unity. #Differentbutsame."

Rabbi Sacks responded: "Yair Lapid thank you! I’ve said before: I don’t need you to agree with me, I just need you to care about me. We're different but united in our belief in Am Echad b’Lev Echad, one ppl with one heart, bound by a covenant of fate & faith. That's why #AmYisraelChai. #DifferentButSame."

Jews mourn the destruction of the two Holy Temples and the destruction of Jewish independence in the land of Israel on Tisha B'Av. According to the Talmud, one of the causes of the destruction and the subsequent millennia of exile was internal fighting and hatred between the Jewish people