In Support of Israel

To my friends and colleagues:?

I grew up in the suburbs of Boston in the 70s and 80s, and even though I’m Jewish,? I never experienced real anti-semitism growing up - unlike my dad and grandparents.?

My grandparents fled religious persecution in Ukraine and brought the scars of the pogroms with them to the United States. My father suffered indignities including being dangled over the side of a bridge by kids who hated Jews. I wake up every morning free to live and worship as I please, but we’ve taken this for granted, and our religious liberties are now under threat.?

I’ve not spoken out before as a Jewish American, but the events of the past month compel me to do so.

The actions of the Hamas terrorists lay bare their only intent - to annihilate the Jewish state and exterminate the Jewish people. When terrorist groups tell us who they are, as this group has done for years through their charter and actions, we should take them at their word. Israel cannot achieve peace, let alone a two-state solution, with a group that seeks its destruction.

And now Israel faces the impossible task of confronting Hamas terrorists on their home turf in Gaza, while hostages are held in underground tunnels, and Palestinian civilians, many of whom are children, are used as human shields – to increase the death toll and aid Hamas propaganda.?

Hamas recognizes no international laws of war, no morality, and as we saw on October 7th, has no regard for innocent human life. And they’re openly promising to continue their attacks until Israel and the Jewish people do not exist.

So how does Israel fight such an enemy? Much of the world, including politicians here at home, want Israel to call for a cease-fire now – before Hamas is defeated.?

Imagine for a moment if the United States were invaded across our border by an army of terrorists who shot, beheaded, disemboweled, raped, and burned 42,000 of our family members over a weekend – yes – this would be the proportional death toll to the 1,200 Israelis murdered by the Hamas terrorists. And now imagine that the sole stated agenda of these terrorists was to continue murdering and pillaging until there was no more America. I think we all know how we’d want our U.S. government to respond to such a threat.

Israel is held to the most vicious double-standard, one that no other country on earth would be held to. During WW2, did the world call for the Allies to cease-fire before Hitler was defeated? If Hamas had the power to exterminate every Jew in Israel and the U.S., do we doubt they would??

As the IDF has entered Gaza to defeat the Hamas terrorists, innocent Palestinian civilians are dying in large numbers, and this is a terrible tragedy. Hamas cynically leverages the civilian population of Gaza as dispensable human shields, placing their weapons, supply storage and command centers underneath Gaza hospitals, schools and mosques. Instead of investing in building a thriving civilian economy, Hamas has used hundreds of millions of dollars of aid from the West to fulfill their charter of exterminating Israel. They have established a terror network of tunnels and stocked them with missiles and supplies to terrorize the civilian population of Israel. U.S. leadership must learn a hard lesson here – our government has been played by Iran and its proxies.?

The war to defeat Hamas is still in the early phases, and this will be a long and hard campaign. As the death toll mounts and pro-Hamas disinformation proliferates on social media, it will be increasingly difficult to sustain support for Israel. For many, Israel has been the villain from day one. Consider that on October 8th, one day after the brutal massacre of Israelis, and before Israel had even mounted a defense – protests broke out around the world against Israel and in support of Hamas.?

Our college campuses have erupted with anti-Israel and anti-semitic threats, and the leadership of many of our elite universities have failed to clearly denounce the evil of Hamas, preferring political correctness to moral courage. We need to speak with moral clarity about the evil of the Hamas terrorists and their overlords in Iran – a country that beats, kills, and executes women and men who peacefully protest the mullahs who subjugate them.

What is happening in Gaza right now is horrifying and tragic. Like most of the world, I am outraged and heartbroken by the terrible loss of life and inhumane living conditions that the Palestinian people are forced to bear, as the Israeli army works to defeat a terror organization that poses an existential threat to the State of Israel. The fact that the Hamas terrorists are holding 240 hostages from 25 nations in their tunnels, while blocking Palestinian civilians from fleeing Northern Gaza, to increase the death toll for their propaganda machine, is the definition of evil. Nobody in Israel or the rest of the civilized world wants to see a single Palestinian civilian harmed.?

I respect the compassion of those who march for the Palestinians peacefully, but I am dismayed by those who direct their outrage at Israel instead of the terrorists with the long and proven history of oppressing and weaponizing their own people. Hamas started this war and they have the power to end it, by laying down their arms and returning the hostages – but they will not do it, because to Hamas, this has always been about fulfilling their own dark agenda and NOT about pursuing a better life or brighter future for the Palestinian people. Hamas lives for death, while Israel and the civilized world celebrate life.?

Throughout modern history a litany of totalitarians, fascists, communists, theocrats and now terrorists have sought to impose their twisted rule and warped values on the civilized world. Hamas is just the latest offspring of darkness seeking celebrity status. In a different time, to paraphrase, JFK said “we will support any friend, and oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty”.? This is one of those times, and this is just as much America’s fight as it is Israel’s – because our freedom and democratic way of life is also under attack. As the leader of the free world, the United States must stand with those who fight for freedom and democracy – and oppose these twisted terrorist pawns of Iran. Prior administrations have taken the easy way out, and put America in a very difficult position. They ignored or never learned the lessons of appeasement.?

I do appreciate President Biden for his strong stance supporting Israel, for his trip to the Jewish homeland, and for the aid package that will surely be ratified by Congress. I also appreciate his care for the Palestinian people who have been marginalized, overlooked, and suffered at the hands of their corrupt leaders for far too long.?

I’m speaking out now because it’s my duty as a Jewish American. I call on all of you who love the democracy in which we live to speak out. Tell your elected leaders what you expect of them. Tell the colleges and universities attended by your kids what you expect of them. Talk to your kids, to your friends and family, and teach them the difference between right and wrong and between Israel and Hamas.?

Denounce anti-semitism, denounce islamophobia, and denounce all hate speech that is a cancer on our free society.

Thank you for your time.