Israel – Jewish Relationships Initiative

Free Palestine

We are witnessing the most extraordinary acts of courage. Thousands of Palestinians are in the streets demanding an end to the war and an end to the brutal Hamas regime. Knowing the severe punishment for this act of defiance by tyrants, they are protesting the horrors they endure.

Such bravery is rarely displayed; we must move quickly to bolster this movement before it is brutally repressed and these leaders killed.

These individuals are the ones with whom peace can be achieved. These Palestinians are ready to fight for their rights with a passion that recognizes the longing for a future for their children and surpasses the ideology that exploits them as instruments of war in support of a distorted Hobson’s choice of endless death and destruction.

We have a vested interest in helping these people by strengthening their voices through aid and security, providing them with a foothold and a respectful path to self-rule with dignity and safety alongside their neighbor, Israel.

Palestinians have been victimized for far too long. The perpetuation of their refugee status on their land is unacceptable. These people have been subject to the manipulation of outside powers seeking political regional hegemony and the destruction of the State of Israel. It must come to an end. Now.

The United States and countries in the region all recognize the value of peace. There are Palestinians courageous enough to advocate for peace, even in these incredibly difficult times. We must support them.

Disastrous Brinksmanship

On the checkboard of foreign policy, we are careening to a terrible end.

Hamas’ delay of the planned hostage release this week, combined with the horrible physical condition of the returned hostages, outraged Trump to set a Saturday deadline for the return of all hostages or else. Netanyahu, already under internal pressure, has now threatened the resumption of brutal war in Gaza. This leaves two options for Hamas: capitulate to the threats or defy them. Defiance likely would be killing some or all of the hostages.

Although Hamas does not respect human life, sending the message of defiance is the only opportunity to demonstrate resilience and, in the opinions of many, victory. The hostages and the Palestinians will be readily sacrificed in the name of ideology.

This is a dangerous game, ultimately without winners, only losers. Hopefully, leaders will step forward to pull back from the precipice. This requires courage, a bold vision for moving forward, and the support of countries genuinely interested in peace.

Stop the Genocide-Sue for Peace!

Although there is not a Genocide happening in Gaza, there is devastating suffering and death.

It can be stopped immediately. Declare peace. Accept the existence of Israel and Return the hostages. You can immediately focus on building a State of Palestine, and most of the world’s nations, including Israel, will support the enterprise. Outside forces of hegemony and oppression (Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah) that have imposed themselves are back on their heels, allowing Palestinians an opportunity for self-determination that has not been seen since 2000 at Camp David.

This is a pragmatic solution. Israel exists. Whether you question Israel’s legitimacy will not make the nation go away. Remaining belligerent only continues the harm to both Israelis and Palestinians. Negotiations are fraught. Negotiating requires leaving some things behind in exchange for other things we determine are more critical. Peace and a Sovereign State would be two extraordinary wins for the Palestinians. Peace is the only way for our children to know something beyond hatred and death.

It is time.

May you be protected

To all of my friends and family in Israel, I wish you safety.

We all understand the certainty of this uncertain situation. Iran’s response to the Haniyeh assassination could be on Tisha B’Av, or it could be tomorrow, but regardless of the date, it will be.

May you be protected by the IDF and all the defensive systems. May the United States stand shoulder to shoulder, and may many others seeking to limit the destruction also step into the breach.

This is a difficult time, and I wish I could do more than pray, but that is what I have to offer for now.

Chazak v’umatz

May the Divine spread Your canopy of Peace over us, over all the people Israel, and over Jerusalem

Baruch atah Adonai, ha-poreis sukkat shalom aleinu v’al kol amo Yisrael, v’al Yerushalayim

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Israel made it clear that it was prepared to engage in a broader war. Targeted attacks, particularly the one that assassinated Haniyeh in Tehran, sent an unambiguous message.

The recent barrage from Iran in the conflict’s latest phase serves as a stark reminder that Iran and its allies are equally committed to intensifying the fight.

We sit on the edge. The words of reprisal portend a substantial response intended to be punishing.

Despite the current turmoil, the potential for peace is not lost. Coexistence, though distant, is not unattainable.

As we enter Shabbat, let us find solace in this sacred moment and fervently pray for the peace of Shabbat to soon embrace us all.

Shabbat Shalom

What do you want? Clarity is critical.

There are many messages in the Campus protests; which is yours? Divestiture, Ceasefire, rebuilding Gaza, developing a Palestinian State, or something else? What about peace?

The message of peace and the coexistence of two peoples will carry the day.

Without articulating what you stand for and what you do not, you are lumped into the “everything” category, which includes antisemitism and the elimination of Israel.

Israel is here to stay. That is an indisputable fact. If you refuse to accept this reality, you essentially oppose a peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestine issue. The region’s people must find a way to live together, for neither is going away.

Building trust and a willingness to accept the other’s presence and narrative must occur on both sides for Palestinians and Israelis. This will take time and effort- lots of each.

This pragmatic politics is problematic for idealogues to embrace. But if peace is the end goal, the ability to live in relative safety and security, this realpolitik must dominate the day. Otherwise, the people will continue to suffer and die. And our tradition says, choose life.

Don’t Squander the moment. The campuses have our attention. They can be places where truth is spoken to power, not merely a place to advocate reductionist ideologies, where critical moral issues are advanced, recognizing the dignity of all people in the region. Seize the moment.

Where do we go from here?

The situation is fluid, and things are different from what we thought. We have come to an inflection point, and what happens next depends entirely on how boldly we are willing to consider acting.

It is relatively easy to kill people but almost impossible to kill an idea. Hamas has shown it knows no limit to the extent it will go to achieve the dual goals of killing Jews and eliminating Israel.

Israel thought it could manage the situation, lulling Hamas through what are essentially bribes and occasionally “mowing the lawn,” that obscene notion that periodically Israel engages in a military action to repress the militants. This is similar to blowing on the boiling pot of pasta to keep it from boiling over.

The pot boiled over, and the ensuing pogrom was devastating.

Furthermore, Hamas retains substantial control. The delay in releasing hostages on Day 2 of the truce showed their continued capacity to manage the situation psychologically. Equally distressing was the celebration in the West Bank because the jubilant welcome home to the released prisoners was met with Hamas flags instead of only Palestinian flags. A weak Palestinian Authority is losing control, and Hamas is ascendant.

And an uncontrolled group of Jewish right-wing extremists is engaging in violence against Palestinians that could only be understood as ethnic cleansing of the territory.

The situation is dire and requires bold action.

Strangely, a scene from The Godfather movie keeps running in my mind. As Don Corleone grieves his murdered son, he looks up and, from the depth of his pain, declares the killing has to stop. Peace is required even though vengeance courses through the blood. For us, this is that moment.

The killing must stop. Recognition by each side is required, and we must forge a way forward. Is Israel able to do this, and if so, who is courageous enough to make that declaration and commitment?

We’ve learned that ignoring the other side and building walls is not a solution. Walls cannot be high enough or thick enough to provide security. We also cannot do it alone.

Many are vested in maintaining the status quo of hostility, hatred, and turmoil. But others have a clear interest in seeing peace in the region. These nations need to join in the effort to work with Palestinians and Israelis to build trust and an infrastructure of hope. Together, we can realize a vision of dignity and security for both people who claim a right to the region. And those who envision a future for their children to live in a world without violence must be convinced we are all committed to their future. Building trust out of the rubble of destruction and pain that now exists will take time. But now is the time to start.

The killing must end, and now is the time to start on a path forward.

#BringThemHomeNow

Bring Them Home Now

We are anxiously hoping the current negotiations for the return of some kidnapped hostages will bring our people home soon.

It is a deal with the devil, but you do what you must do.

However, the devil is in the details, and the details are troubling.

We have been unable to get “proof of life” for all held captive. Why is this the case? Is Hamas not in control of all the hostages? If true, it does not bode well for those remaining in captivity.

Why has the Red Cross been unable to check on the welfare of the hostages? This, too, is an ominous sign that Hamas may not be in control and our people are not being treated humanely.

Why are the negotiations 3 to 1? For every Israeli returned, three people are returned to Hamas. This seems an admission, particularly by Hamas, that both sides value Israeli human life more than Palestinians’.

These issues are distressing, But the answers to these questions offer insights into how things will progress after this deal is concluded.

Let us bring home those we can and work to bring the rest back as quickly as possible.

Mission to Israel Countdown t-2

Are you pro-Israel or not?

This is a moment of truth. Which side are you on?

I am pro-Israel. I believe in the State and its right to exist. I believe in its right to defend itself. I believe Hamas is intent on Israel’s destruction; as such, it must be treated as an irreconcilable enemy that must be fought. But this battle comes at a price.

I grieve for the suffering of the Palestinians and pray that they, too, might find peace, dignity, and self-determination with a government that serves them. And I am offended by the violence in the West Bank against Palestinians that seemingly slips under the radar but is no less egregious.

I disagree with Israel’s government and its policies. But I set these aside for the time being. Our focus must be on the current crisis.

I’m not too fond of reductionist thinking, but this is a simple binary decision. You stand with Israel, which is now conflated with the Jewish people, or you do not. This doesn’t mean we agree on everything (that will require the Messiah’s intervention), but world events have made it clear that the rest of the world has grouped the Jews with Israel. We, therefore, must stand together.

We must stand for our values and deeply consider how those values are understood, especially in these challenging times.

Which side are you on?

Our lives are changed

All of our lives have been irrevocably changed as a result of October 7. The lives we thought we enjoyed before have had the veneer ripped away, and we are in a new and strangely familiar place as a people of history.

As many of you know, I am planning a trip to Israel with a few of my colleagues from the Philadelphia region through the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Our purpose is to learn, bear witness, and bring home the stories of what is happening to the people of Israel. We will start in Tel Aviv, and we will move South, meeting with families of the kidnapped, hostages, and others whose lives around the envelope have been changed forever.

I do not know what I will encounter. And I say that as someone who is struggling here in the Diaspora and as someone committed to the Jewish state. We have complex and conflicting moral issues to try and understand. It is like threading the eye of a tiny needle. Our tradition is well-versed in parsing, probing, and understanding how we maintain our values even when those values are challenged in the most extraordinary ways. But we have enjoyed the opportunity to study those texts, not live them in real-time, and here in lies the real challenge of what it means to understand what is going on Jewishly.

I will share the lessons I will learn and some wisdom that I hope will come from these experiences. But I will at least bear witness.

I have been asked repeatedly if I am nervous or scared about my trip to Israel, and I do have trepidation, but it’s not the trepidation of being physically hurt. It is the trepidation of everything that I have held dear, of everything that I have worked for, of everything that I believe in, being tested in a way that I never thought would be imaginable today.

The virulent Jew-hatred we believed was part of our history is now being expressed publicly and shamelessly; that is frightening.

I am privileged to know many people of Goodwill, and so many of them have reached out in this fraught time to offer their support and love. But there are so many others who have remained silent and too many others who have let their antisemitism erupt into the public space. We can no longer pretend that Jew-hatred does not affect us. It does, and we must now decide whether we stand for what we claim to believe and fight for those values and ideals.

I pray for the people of Israel, I pray for my Jewish brothers and sisters both there and here, and I pray for peace. Perhaps these things may come more quickly than the all-too-elusive Messiah. It is up to us to hasten their coming.