The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday that Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau met last week with Sheikh Mohammad Kiwan who serves as chairman of the Council of Muslim Leaders in Israel. The two issued a call for restraint and tolerance.

“We must call for unity and peace between peoples in order that we can all live together in a better way,” said Lau. “We are the children of one God, and we must live together side by side, and everyone must work in every way to prevent extremism and hatred,” Lau concluded.

Kiwan agreed with Lau’s comments, and said that are many opportunities to bring the two sides together.

“We are meeting with the chief rabbi, who is a friend and like a brother to me, and as heads of the [different] religious communities, we call on all those responsible to prevent violence and to enter into dialogue of peace,” said Kiwan.

In addition to addressing the ongoing unrest in Jerusalem, the two religious leaders “discussed the need for increasing the values of tolerance in the Israeli education system and expanding opportunities for religious leaders to meet.”

Palestinian leader called on their followers to stage a “day of rage” against Israel last week. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stirred outrage as he wrote a letter to the family of Mu’taz Hijazi, the suspect in the shooting of Rabbi Yehuda Glick last week, referring to him “as a martyr … defending the rights of our people and our holy places.”

[Photo: Florian Prischl / Flickr ]