The ongoing crisis in Gaza is a devastating reminder of the immense human cost of war. Nearly two years into Israel’s war against Hamas, Israelis are still waiting for the return of their loved ones held hostage, and innocent Palestinians are caught in a mounting humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice the Palestinian people in its pursuit of Israel’s destruction, but Israel must not sacrifice its own moral standing in return. Neither escalating military pressure nor restricting humanitarian aid has brought Israel closer to securing a hostage deal or ending the war.

While long-delayed and not-yet-certain to be more effective than previous efforts, we are encouraged by Saturday night’s announcement that the Israeli military would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes and make it easier for aid convoys, including those from the UN’s World Food Program, to move through Gaza along “designated humanitarian corridors,” and to temporarily cease fighting in Gaza for a humanitarian pause.

No one should be unaffected by the pervasive hunger experienced by thousands of Gazans. No one should spend the bulk of their time arguing technical definitions between starvation and pervasive hunger. The situation is dire, and it is deadly. Nor should we accept arguments that because Hamas is the primary reason many Gazans are either starving or on the verge of starving, that the Jewish State is not also culpable in this human disaster. The primary moral response must begin with anguished hearts in the face of such a large-scale human tragedy.

Our tradition teaches that all people are created b’tzelem Elohim—in the image of God. One consequence of this is the moral priority, which is affirmed throughout the Bible and rabbinic tradition, of feeding the hungry—both for the individual and for the self-governing Jewish community.

More than a few members of the current Israeli government have publicly called for Israel to decimate the Gaza strip. The most recent was Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu who, on Thursday lauded the Israeli government for “racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out.” He added: “Thank God, we are wiping out this evil.” Of equal concern are far-right Israeli politicians who advocate for Israel to permanently push most Gazans from much of Gaza and replace them with Jewish settlements. We condemn all such statements. They do not represent Jewish values nor those embodied in the Zionist vision that produced Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Despite PM Netanyahu’s calls to ignore these full members of his cabinet, their presence in this government has consistently morally compromised Israel’s actions.

Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the “total victory” over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law. It’s hard to imagine that this tragic approach will bring home the 50 remaining hostages, including the 20 whom we pray are still alive.

It’s imperative that the Government of Israel ensures that the recently announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid succeed as Israel works with international partners to ensure its safe and sustained delivery and do whatever possible to reduce or eliminate the shootings and other injuries sustained at food distribution centers. We applaud Israel’s green light for foreign nations to resume providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza population desperate for food and are confident that they will do all they can to ensure that such aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas.

As Israel has effective control of 70% of Gaza, with the intent to remain in significant swaths of it, even if only temporarily, it should be directly involved, facilitate and cooperate with the international community, international humanitarian NGOs, and regional friends, to take urgently needed actions, such as these suggested by Israeli Reform rabbi and Member of Knesset Gilad Kariv:

• To prevent the alarming number of civilian deaths in and around the food and humanitarian aid distribution sites.

• Opening a significant number of food distribution centers at various locations across the Gaza Strip.

• Large-scale entry of infant formula (especially liquid formula) and ensuring safe delivery to both functioning medical centers and the few remaining international aid facilities.

• Establishing secure methods—potentially through cooperation with regional countries—for delivering food supplies to aid organizations and international agencies.

• Resuming sufficient water supply to population centers in Gaza, in accordance with international health standards.

• Authorizing and assisting in the supply of medications, the establishment of field hospitals and clinics operated by remaining Palestinian medical staff, by foreign governments and by international agencies, especially in areas where hospitals have ceased functioning.

Finally, while it is imperative that Israel and the U.S. resume diplomacy to bring home all hostages and end this war, denying basic humanitarian aid crosses a moral line. Blocking food, water, medicine, and power—especially for children—is indefensible. Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable. Let us rise to the moral challenge of this moment.

Fear, anger, outrage, disgust, rage, anxiety, worry – these are among the feelings millions of Americans have been experiencing since Trump took control of the federal government, appointed incompetent sycophants to his Cabinet, began firing hundreds of thousands of federal workers, dismembering whole government departments and agencies, crashing the economy, obliterating the life savings of millions of seniors, threatening America’s social safety net, and wrecking the international global trading system.

And then there’s the endless war in Gaza that PM Netanyahu refuses to end thereby callously forsaking the lives of the remaining hostages, withholding desperately needed humanitarian aid from the most vulnerable Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and allowing more killings in Gaza and the destruction of Palestinian lives and villages in the West Bank.

In his novel The Human Stain, Philip Roth wrote cynically:

“…we leave a stain, we leave a trail, we leave our imprint. Impurity, cruelty, abuse, error, … – there’s no other way to be here. Nothing to do with disobedience. Nothing to do with grace or salvation or redemption. It’s in everyone. Indwelling. Inherent, Defining. The stain that is there before its mark. Without the sign it is there. The stain so intrinsic it doesn’t require a mark. The stain that precedes disobedience, that impasses disobedience and perplexes all explanation and understanding. It’s why all the cleansing is a job. A barbaric joke at that. The fantasy of purity is appalling. It’s insane. What is the quest to purify, if not more impurity?” (p. 242)

Roth’s dystopic characterization of the human condition is soul-crushing and contrary to fundamental Jewish values promoting goodness, justice, compassion, and human decency.

Years ago at a convention of Reform Rabbis in Jerusalem that met between Purim and Pesach, Yossi Klein Halevi offered this teaching about the truths at the core of each holiday. Purim, he said, reminds Jews that there are indeed evil actors in the world whose hatred of our people threatens us and we cannot be naïve about their worst intentions. Pesach reminds us, he said, that as a people who have long known enslavement and suffering must never forget that it’s our duty to remain compassionate despite the cruelty around us.

Pesach reminds us also that we need each other, our families, friends, and community as we face the multitude of moral challenges before us. When we open the door for Elijah, we’re reminded that not all is lost, that hope abides despite the human stain that leaves its corrosive residue in the heart, and that it’s our moral and Jewish duty to act justly, to love mercy, and to pursue peace.

Our role today, along with the millions of Americans who marched last weekend against the despotic over-reach of this corrupt and heartless American President, is to be, like them, on the right side of history. And it is to be grateful for the thousands of lawyers and law firms, the hundreds of college and university presidents and faculties, and the many decent public servants in Congress, state capitals and local communities across the United States who are resisting tyranny.

As Jews who love Israel, it is our place to act in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of Israeli demonstrators marching weekly and calling for an immediate end to Israel’s longest war, the return of the hostages, the restoration of humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and on behalf of Israeli democracy.  

When the ancient Israelites escaped Egypt with Pharaoh’s troops in pursuit, they came to the Sea of Reeds, a natural blockade to their liberation. Moses turned to God in prayer and asked for Divine agency. However, Nachshon ben Aminadav took history into his own hands and leaped into the sea, whereupon the Holy One took note of Nachshon’s courage and parted the waters that the people might escape upon dry land.

The Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 54b), many centuries later, reflected on the moral responsibility of our people to take action whenever they confronted injustice, corruption, and hard-heartedness:

“If a person can protest the misdeeds of one’s household, yet does not, that one becomes guilty with them. If a person can protest the deeds of one’s towns-people, and does not, that one is guilty with them. If a person can protest the deeds of the entire world, and does not, that one is guilty with them.”

Chag Pesach Sameach!

I have waited until the first group of hostages is home to express my joy in the agreement that brings about a ceasefire, the return of the hostages, and increased humanitarian aid into Gaza. At last, I’m beginning to feel a measure of relief that the first three Israeli hostages – Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher – are home after their 471 days of captivity and that the remainder of the hostages will be home soon. According to the agreement, 30 more hostages will be released during the first phase of the agreement in groups every Saturday over the next six weeks. In the next phase, more hostages will be released.

The greatest of all commandments in Jewish tradition is the “pidyon shevuyim – redemption of captives” (Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim 8:10-11). The Shulchan Aruch, the authoritative 16^th century code of Jewish law, emphasizes that “every moment that one delays in freeing captives, in cases where it is possible to expedite their freedom, is considered to be tantamount to murder.” (Yoreh De’ah 252:3) Three millennia ago, the Psalmist exclaimed “B’shuv Adonai et shivat Zion hayinu k’cholmim… – When God returns the captives to Zion we will be like dreamers — our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with joy.” (126:1)

Hamas’ kidnapping on October 7^th 250+ babies, children, young women, men, and seniors from their beds and the music festival, and viciously raped many of the young women, paraded both the living and dead through the streets of Gaza like trophies to the cheering of the crowds, are unforgivable crimes against humanity. Worry about the fate and well-being of these hostages has been a constant every-day reality for Israelis and the Jewish people worldwide. The suffering too of innocent Palestinian civilians at the hands of Hamas’ criminality has been also a deep concern over all this time for compassionate human beings everywhere. Now, at last, the suffering can begin to end and Israelis and Palestinians can start to move on, to reconstruct their destroyed and damaged communities, to heal from this longest war, and consider paths towards peace with justice and security for both our peoples in our shared Homeland.

As a Jew and as an American, I’m grateful for the Biden Administration’s consistent effort to find a diplomatic resolution that brings about a ceasefire and the return home of the hostages. Credit is due as well to the incoming Administration that worked with Biden to achieve this agreement.

As much as we Jews are thrilled that the first small group of hostages are home and more are scheduled to be reunited with their families in the coming weeks, there is something repulsive and morally offensive to me that these innocent and peaceful men, women, children, babies, parents, and grandparents will be returned in exchange for the release of those terrorists who committed cruel acts against our people, who have much Jewish blood on their hands, or who profess the murderous Hamas intentions towards the Jewish people and Jewish State. I comfort myself, however, in the knowledge of and respect for Jewish tradition that insists that we do everything possible to bring home innocent captives and not leave them to a certain fate of death in the tunnels of Gaza.

I’m guardedly optimistic that all the hostages will be home soon and that peace will settle in the land. Until that happens, it is upon us to remember that despair is not an option, that hopeful aspirations have historically characterized the Jewish people regardless of our circumstances, and that our dreams of the return of the captives will be fulfilled and that peace and security will eventually come.

Introduction: I could not have hoped for a better, more nuanced, comprehensive, and urgent statement from Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris about this awful Israel-Hamas War. If you did not hear her give it in her masterful verbal presentation, here it is (click onto the blue below to see her actually deliver her statement):

I just had a frank and constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I told him that I will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran backed-militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah. From when I was a young girl collecting funds to plant trees for Israel to my time in the United States Senate, and now at the White House, I have had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security and to the people of Israel. I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself and how it does so matters. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization. On October 7th Hamas triggered this war when it massacred 1200 innocent people including 44 Americans. Hamas has committed horrific acts of sexual violence and it took 250 hostages. There are American citizens who remain captive in Gaza – Sagi Deo Hen Hirsch Goldberg, Poland Idan, Alexander Keith Siegal Omer Neutra and the remains of American citizens, Judy Weinstein, God Haggai and Itai Hen are still being held in Gaza. I have met with the families of these American hostages multiple times now, and I’ve told them each time they are not alone and I stand with them, and President Biden and I are working every day to bring them home. I also expressed with the Prime Minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there with over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity. What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety sometimes displaced for the 2nd, 3rd, or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent. Thanks to the leadership of our President Joe Biden, there is a deal on the table for a ceasefire and a hostage deal and it is important that we recall what the deal involves. The first phase of the deal would bring about a full ceasefire including a withdrawal of the Israeli military from population centers in Gaza. In the second phase, the Israeli military would withdraw from Gaza entirely, and it would lead to a permanent end to the hostilities. It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination. There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal; and as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu it is time to get this deal done. So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you. Let’s get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home and let’s provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people. Ultimately, I remain committed to a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution. I know right now it is hard to conceive of that prospect; but a two-state solution is the only path that ensures Israel remains a secure Jewish and democratic state, and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security and prosperity that they rightly deserve.  I will close with this. It is important for the American people to remember the war in Gaza is not a binary issue. However, too often the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but; so I ask my fellow Americans to help encourage efforts to acknowledge the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region. Let us all condemn terrorism and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians, and let us condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate of any kind, and let us work to unite our country. I thank you.

Introductory Notes:

As a national co-chair of the J Street Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet, I fully support J Street’s policy statement below concerning the Israel-Hamas war. It requires a close read to appreciate the complexity of the disastrous war started by Hamas’s brutal attack against Israeli civilians and its massive hostage taking on October 7 that has resulted in a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. J Street’s position is nuanced and represents a positive path forward and hopefully, will be accepted as a whole by the Biden Administration, Congress, the Israeli government, what remains of the Palestinian Authority and other Arab nations.

In brief, J Street expresses our full support for Israel and its right to defend itself against the terrorist organization Hamas, to remove Hamas from power over Gaza using only “intelligence-led precision strikes with precision munitions, and special operations forces” and not massive bombing, to promote a pause (not a ceasefire) to negotiate the release of all hostages and allow the infusion of massive amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, to urge the United States and the Biden Administration to propose a massive Marshall-like plan after the war for the restoration of Gaza, to work with a post-Netanyahu government and a restructured Palestinian Authority with the support of Arab nations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in two-states for two peoples with security guarantees for both Israel and the Palestinians, and to institute strict oversight and scrutiny of American arms in compliance with international law.

I urge you to read the following carefully and share it with everyone you know, especially young American Jews and non-Jews.

December 21, 2023

“Two and a half months after the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas, J Street’s support for the people and state of Israel remains unwavering. We continue to affirm Israel’s right and obligation to defend its territory, provide security for its citizens and bring to justice those who perpetrated this barbaric attack.

However, as six Members of Congress with significant national security experience wrote this week to President Biden, the civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza that the Netanyahu government’s military operation have caused are unacceptable and out of line with American interests and values.

These Members – each of whom learned bitter lessons about war and counterterrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan – urged the President to “use all our leverage to achieve an immediate and significant shift [in Israel’s] military strategy and tactics in Gaza.”

In recent days, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned Israel that when you drive the civilian population into the arms of the enemy, you can “replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.” And former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley weighed in similarly on the nature of the war, noting that “military doctrine has evolved … and the preferred doctrine today in highly dense urban areas is to do intelligence-led precision strikes with precision munitions, and special operations forces.”

J Street too opposes the Netanyahu government’s disastrous approach to the war.

We call on President Biden to heed the advice of this wide array of national security experts and veterans of counterterrorism operations and to convey to the Netanyahu government, both publicly and privately, that the time has come to end the all-out military campaign and massive aerial bombardment of Gaza and immediately shift to a far more targeted and limited operation.

In light of the Netanyahu government’s repeated refusal to heed the administration’s call and advice, J Street urges the Administration to take further, firmer steps to bring about this change including:

1. Proposing a renewed pause in the fighting that enables the safe return of the remaining hostages and a dramatic surge in humanitarian assistance.

The terms of a renewed break in hostilities would include Hamas’ release of additional hostages in exchange for an extended break in the fighting and a further release of prisoners. We would also support the Administration proposing a longer-term end to the fighting were Hamas required in addition to releasing all the hostages to relinquish its remaining arsenal and accept passage for its leadership to a third country.

A renewed pause should bring a dramatic, urgent infusion of humanitarian aid, inclusive of food, water and medical supplies for families in Gaza. The civilian population of Gaza – the majority of whom are children and 85 percent or more of whom are displaced from their homes – are living in unbearable conditions. We commend the Administration’s efforts to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing to facilitate movement of more aid into Gaza. This must be paired with the entry of humanitarian aid organizations to establish more field hospitals, shelters and distribution mechanisms.

2. Shifting America’s posture at the United Nations.

The United States should stop vetoing Security Council resolutions related to the conflict that seek to find ways to advance the release of hostages, the provision of humanitarian assistance and a pathway to diplomatic resolution of the conflict. Rather, the US should draft and lead resolutions that accord with our policy and values, possibly outlining terms for further pauses in the fighting, holding Israel and other actors accountable when their actions violate international law or contradict US interests and renewing the global commitment to a two-state solution, while articulating parameters to guide negotiations.

3. Outlining a plan for post-war Gaza reconstruction and a pathway to a viable Palestinian state.

The Administration should provide a detailed public plan for the day after the present crisis that begins with reconstruction and redevelopment of the devastation in Gaza and leads to the creation of a viable, independent state of Palestine alongside a secure Israel. The plan should provide for a revitalized and reformed Palestinian Authority that unites the West Bank and Gaza and creates the conditions in which Israel can normalize relations with all regional neighbors and the broader Arab and Muslim world.

The President should make clear that any American investment or involvement in post-war reconstruction – for instance in a multinational Marshall Plan-style effort – will be accompanied by an American commitment to recognition of Palestinian statehood – despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s opposition. Already in recent days, the UAE has made clear that financial and other commitments from the Arab world to post-war development in Palestine will only come when there is an Israeli commitment to a two-state solution.

4. Instituting strict oversight and scrutiny of arms and material purchased with US assistance to ensure they are used in compliance with domestic and international law.

Senator Chris Van Hollen’s proposed amendment to the President’s supplemental assistance request provides a commonsense and universal approach to oversight of weapons purchased with American assistance. The President should ask Congress to include such transparency measures in the supplemental package they are considering and should indicate that the Administration will use all the tools already at its disposal under existing law to ensure that the Israeli government – along with all other countries receiving US assistance – acts within the bounds of domestic and international law.

The death toll in this conflict is too great and the suffering unbearable – leading many passionate and committed individuals and organizations to call on Israel to unilaterally cease fire. J Street does not join in calling for a ceasefire because we do not see a viable path to a stable, peaceful future for either Israelis or Palestinians with Hamas in control of Gaza and still committed in its charter to Israel’s destruction and publicly pledging to repeat the October 7 attack if given the chance.

Having said this, we also see no viable path to sustainable, long-term resolution of this conflict if the Netanyahu government continues to add to the already unacceptable civilian toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to disregard American recommendations on the conduct of the war.

We urge the Biden administration to take immediate action to ensure that the Israeli government significantly shifts course before this conflict costs more lives and wreaks more pain and devastation. 

The way the current campaign is being pursued only jeopardizes Israel’s efforts to defeat Hamas and secure the release of the hostages – while laying the groundwork for even deeper, long-term security challenges.