The article, ‘Interfaith work has failed—we need to move to action’, published two months ago in Church Times, merits careful attention because it identifies a central weakness in contemporary interfaith practice: dialogue remains important, but it has proved insufficient to prevent animosity or sustain peace. Professor Uriel Simonsohn’s argument carries particular significance in the post-7 October context. As founder of the Centre for Religious Studies at the University of Haifa nearly two decades ago, he brings substantial scholarly and institutional experience to this assessment.

In recent years, those engaged in interfaith work have increasingly confronted a difficult question: why has so much dialogue failed to arrest hostility, mistrust, or intensifying division? One plausible answer is that conversation alone is insufficient. When interfaith engagement is confined to formal exchanges, symbolic encounters, or general appeals to harmony, it often leaves unexamined the assumptions and habits that shape social coexistence. If it is to contribute meaningfully to education and peace, it must be embedded in sustained practices of........

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