Israel is not a warmonger as its adversaries seek to portray it, Hilton Head rabbi says
Last February I led a trip to Israel with both Jews and Christians. One day we traveled to the Gaza area and visited some of the communities.
In one community we met an artist who spends his life recovering pieces of Hamas shrapnel and turning them into sculptures for peace. That is how he makes a difference. In another community we visited a farmer who makes all kinds of spices. In the third community we met with a woman who immigrated with her children from Amsterdam and eventually settled in a town called Netiv HaAsarah or “Path of the Ten.” She told tales of what it is like living in a community right next to the Gaza Wall.
We saw the security towers that had been shot down and the wall of concrete that would be breached by Hamas terrorists eight months later.
This community created their own wall of peace which we stood beside and made our prayers. We could see then with our own eyes the precarious nature of this living situation.
We also traveled north and spent time with a farmer who took us to the border with Lebanon. Standing in his fields, we were within yards of the border and could gaze into the Lebanese towns. He said, “You see those patrolling cars? Those are Hezbollah. They patrol their towns and watch us as we watch them.”
Once you visit these places in Israel, it is far easier to comprehend the geographic context of how Israel, despite its military might, is surrounded by terrorist forces to the north and the south. The people who live in these communities called Kibbutzim or Moshavim are folks with a strong ideological connection to the land and to the history of the Jewish people, and especially to their place in building Israel for their children and the next generations.
These Israelis are just like you and me. Their hopes and aspirations are no different than ours as Americans.
Hamas, however, is not like you and me.
Hamas proved this past week that it is not a liberation movement for the Palestinians; rather it represents the insatiable and unfathomable desire to commit genocide against the Jewish people. This is the enemy Israel is facing and the one that America is facing as well. Call it Isis, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah or the Iranians, they are all variations of a theme. Full stop.
This is a time to speak frankly and for us to have moral clarity. Hamas has put its own people in this dangerous situation. It has brought the Israel Defense Forces on itself and on the people of Gaza. Its political objectives supersede the well-being and the lives of the innocent and captive residents of Gaza. The moral culpability from the deaths of Gaza’s population will fall on Hamas’ shoulders besides the massacre of over 1,300 Israelis and other people in Israel.
The world will remember that the 260 people at the Supernova music festival who were slain, the parents and grandparents cut in half in their apartments, the children and others taken into captivity.
We have heard a multitude of heart-breaking stories. Their voices demand justice, and Israel has every right to defend itself and to eliminate Hamas now and forever.
Israel is not a warmonger as its adversaries seek to portray it. Israel has Arab allies and yet is surrounded by vicious enemies bent on genocide. I have lived in Israel and known many Israelis, and they seek the same things we do out of life. Israel gave up the Sinai and made peace with Egypt, along with Jordan and the Gulf states and Morocco. Hamas was doing everything in its power to destroy peace talks with the Saudis.
Yes, Israel is a Jewish state, the first one since the Romans destroyed Judea in 70 CE. Now, it is 75 years old and flourishing economically, culturally and contributing to science in unprecedented ways. It is diverse with both black and white populations, Jews and non-Jews, including a robust Christian community. We all have a shared history, regardless of our different faith traditions, in Israel.
Now, we mourn and call upon everyone to stand in solidarity with Israel. There is one more element to mention, and this the most important. It is the Jewish core value and this hope. The national anthem of Israel is called HaTikvah (“The Hope”). Remember these words, because the future for Israel, no matter how the darkness has consumed it and us right now, will be bright.
As long as within our hearts
The Jewish soul sings,
As long as forward to the East
To Zion, looks the eye —
Our hope is not yet lost,
It is two thousand years old,
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Let everyone hear and every American see the hope that Israel will prevail and defeat Hamas and renew itself to be the light to the nations that the prophets envisioned that the Jewish people would one day be.
It is the same light that inspired millions to commit to faith, history and the future where everyone in Israel may sit under their vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid.
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 7:00 AM.