Russian Council of Muftis head Ravil Gainutdin has met with the family of Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser, the Israeli soldier who was abducted by Hezbollah.

The meeting took place at Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar’s initiative. Lazar introduced the captured soldier’s father, mother, and wife to the mufti.

“Wars are started by politicians, but we are asking you, religious leaders, to do all you can so that peaceful people will not die and children not become orphans,” Udi Goldwasser’s father told Gainutdin.

The mother said many pinned their hopes for peace in the Middle East on religious leaders, seeing their activities as a way to stop wars and violence.

The Federation of the Jewish Communities in Russia (FJCR) told Interfax that Mufti Gainutdin promised to use all his connections in Arab countries to learn about the fates of Goldwasser and reservist Ehdad Regev, who was likewise abducted by Hezbollah.

IFR