Jerusalem: Faced with growing incidents of terrorism, Israel is contemplating use of prison programmes formulated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation to reform jailed extremists.

An assurance to this effect was given by Natan Sharansky, Israeli Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs during a meeting with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today (Nov 7).

The Indian spiritual guru, who is on his first visit to this country with the message of love and peace, had already held meetings with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres and various religious leaders.

During the meeting with Sharansky, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar emphasised that only through change of heart can peace be brought about and not through force.

The Israeli Minister said his country faced a difficult task of stopping "the war of terror" while remaining free and democratic.

Sharansky, a Russian Jew who suffered several years of solitary imprisonment during the Soviet era for being a dissident, said that politicians sometimes needed to calm their mind and reflect on spiritual values.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also visited the resettlement colony of Efrat near the Jordan border, where Mayor Eitan Golan felicitated him for his work of spreading universal brotherhood.

During a meeting with the spiritual leader yesterday, Israeli President Moshe Katasav accused the Palestinian leadership of not coming forward for negotiations despite the Israeli Government keeping its channels of communication open.

Katsav was also critical of the international media for "failing" to distinguish between terrorism and acts to prevent it and of committing the "mistake" of holding "the weak as innocent and the strong as guilty".

The spiritual leaders will have to come together and educate people to shun suicide bombers, Katsav added.

PTI