During a visit to Rome on Monday, top officials from one of the most prominent Jewish organisations said they want to befriend moderate Muslims.
"We want to reach out to moderate Muslims: Islam is under attack from within," the World Jewish Congress's new secretary general, Michael Schneider, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"This was our message during our presentation to cardinals and the Holy Father [Pope Benedict XVI]," Schneider said.
"Most Muslims are not terrorists, want to live decent lives, and have the same aspirations as other populations," he added.
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Asked for the World Jewish Congress's view of Islamist Palestinian group Hamas and its future, Schneider commented: "This is a matter for the government of Israel, whose views are known."
"Obviously, we condemn any acts of terrorism. We do obviously also support peace in the Middle East, but peace with security," Schneider stressed.
Hamas won a crushing victory in Palestinian elections last year and currently controls the Gaza strip. Branded a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is the largest Palestinian militant organisation and is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation.
It has not relinquished its assertion that Palestinian refugees from 1948 should be allowed to return to homes in what has become Israel - a move that threatens Israel's very existence as a Jewish state.
An arguably greater threat to Israel is posed by Iran, Schneider said he and the organisation's president Ronald S. Lauder would be telling Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano at a meeting with him later on Monday.
Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that Iran should be "wiped off the map," a threat that needs to be taken seriously, Lauder argued in an editorial published on Sunday in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Iran's atomic programme is a threat to Europe as well as Israel, the editorial said. Iran has refused to give up uranium enrichment, claiming it only wants nuclear power to generate electricity.
The United States and other world powers suspect Iran is seeking to build a covert nuclear weapons programme and the United Nations Security Council has slapped two rounds of sanctions on the country.
"We are urging all governments to take what ever actions necessary, particularly economic. These are the only practical solution. We have seen even light sanctions cause economic discomfort," Schneider stated.
The US, France and other nations back a fresh round of stiffer sanctions including financial and investment cuts and restrictions on oil trading.
Schneider said hope that Italy, "a force to be reckoned with ?," will play a leading role against extremism, echoing comments made by Lauder in his Corriere della Sera editorial.
"Democratic governments have an obligation to protect their citizens against internal and external threats," wrote Lauder. He last week held talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During their talks at the Vatican, Schneider and Lauder stressed their desire to continue Jewish-Catholic collaboration - a subject the Pope said is close to his heart.
But they also drew attention to their concern over neo-Nazi groups and anti-Semitism present in a number of European countries.
Anti-Semitic statements by the Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, owner of the ultra-conservative Catholic radio station 'Radio Maryja' were "causing tremendous damage to attitudes and relations with the Jewish community in Poland."
"Many Holocaust survivors are still living in Poland," Schneider told AKI.
Some six million Jews perished in Europe during the Nazi World War II Holocaust.