Josh Einiger travels to Israel as Cardinal Dolan meets with Jewish, Islamic leaders
TEL AVIV (WABC) -- Timothy Cardinal Dolan arrived in Israel from New York on Friday amid the threat of growing conflict in the region.
Cardinal Dolan will visit religious sites on the West Bank and meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday and Israel President Isaac Herzog on Monday.
Eyewitness News Reporter Josh Einiger will travel with Cardinal Dolan in the region.
There is a decided amount of unease in Israel as the whole region waits to see Iran's next move in the ever-widening conflict. It's the latest challenge to the Biden administration as it attempts to avert an all-out war.
In a speech marking the end of Ramadan this week, Iran's supreme leader vowed Israel must be punished for its attack on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria, saying it was like attacking Iranian soil.
The U.S. State Department has barred its Israel-based personnel from leaving the metro areas of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Iran is said to have 100 missiles on standby for an attack that President Joe Biden says will happen sooner than later.
Biden has ordered additional assets to the region in an attempt to deter Iran and protect the 3,500 U.S. forces stationed in Iraq and Syria.
It is during the unease across the region that Cardinal Dolan embarks on the ambitious seven-day visit to highlight and support Catholic-based relief efforts.
He is taking great pains to lend support to both sides of the bloody war and taking separate high-stakes meetings.
"One answer is to keep away from the extremes, so you get the extreme of Hamas who literally want the extermination of Israel and Jewish people, that's one vicious extreme, on the other hand, you have extremes that now what to get rid of Palestinians, so both of those extremes we have to avoid," Dolan said. "We're trying to bring some sense of peace and security - the answer to that, I don't know, I know what it's not is to listen to these extremes, those voice have to be dulled."
The cardinal will also be meeting with family members of hostages as more than 130 people remain in Hamas' captivity. More than 30 of them are believed to have been killed in captivity but their bodies have not been returned.
There is great discontent growing with the prime minister as many feel the war has done little to bring the hostages home and has worsened Israel's image around the world and increased antisemitism around the world.
"I think the vast majority of Israelis are no longer behind him, even those behind him politically think he's a colossal failure and he doesn't care about what's going on," said Louis Frankenthaler, who moved to Israel 30 years ago from New Jersey.
You can watch Josh Einiger's reports from Israel in the media player above.
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