Among those attending the meeting were Rabbi Benny Lau, Ofrah resident and newly-appointed Israel Broadcasting Authority Director Moti Shklar and Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, who heads the hesder yeshiva in Petah Tikva.
Rabbi Cherlow explained afterwards that the purpose of the meeting was to voice the concerns of the religious-Zionist community to the prime minister ahead of his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. "We wanted to be another vector in his suitcase, as he goes to America," Cherlow said. He declined to outline exactly what was discussed, due to the Torah prohibition of being a "talebearer among your people."
The rabbi said, though, that the main demand upon Olmert was for a clarification and explanation of the benefits of his convergence plan. "We told him that according to Olmert's assumption that the withdrawal will happen, it must be accompanied by a realistic explanation of how the stated aims of building a Jewish and democratic state are to be attained through his method."
Cherlow admitted that the meeting was partially a manipulation of sorts, with Olmert's associates immediately leaking its occurrence to the press in an effort to convey a sense of coordination with those living in the sights of the government's bulldozers. He said that although he was initially concerned about the meeting due to Olmert being a politician and not yet a leader, "he is the leader of Israel. Yiftah in his day was like [the much more righteous] Samuel in his day [in terms of leadership]."
Ofrah resident Moti Shklar, who attended the meeting, had just been informed of his appointment as chairman of the broadcasting authority, by Olmert and Minister Eitan Cabel, who has been appointed to oversee the broadcasting authority. The appointment must be approved by the government at this Sunday's Cabinet meeting. Shklar has served as chairman of the Secondary Authority for the past five years. Before that he served as one of the heads of Jerusalem's Maaleh religious film school.
The Yesha Council of Judea and Samaria communities criticized Olmert for meeting with residents instead of with the council members. They said that although the council has faced harsh criticism (most of it from residents claiming it is beholden to the government by its very nature), it is still the address for any genuine dialogue with residents of Judea and Samaria.
Rabbi Cherlow, also fending off criticism, said that Olmert's plan affects not only Judea and Samaria residents but the entire future and nature of the Jewish state, and therefore he felt his attending the meeting was justified.