Hamas, Gaza and Israel

In December the founder of Rabbis For Human Rights, Rabbi David Forman, told us that the problem with being a Jew in Israel was that Israel had the problem of protecting its bodily security, while also preserving its soul. Unfortunately , the recent war with Hamas points this out in a stark way. Israel responded only after years of shelling from Gaza, and yet the destruction and the loss of civilian life in Gaza is tragic. The loss of life there is something for which we as Jews are deeply sorry.

Now that the cease fire has taken hold, we hope that it will continue. We are aware that Hamas has announced that it will rearm and will eventually start this madness again. At that time, Israel will once again be forced to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism;

Hamas desires that it borders with Israel be open without any restrictions on what it can bring in. Of course, Israel is concerned about the continued smuggling of weapons and thus Israel will continue to control its own border with Gaza as well as the coast and airspace. The closures of Gaza, which do not include humanitarian aid, have been done in response to the firing of rockets on southern Israel.

Let us not forget that Egypt also has a border with Gaza, and Israel has absolutely no control over that border. It is Egypt’s choice to keep it closed. The eight mile border with Egypt is also where Hamas has dug 500 tunnels to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. Someone who holds Israel solely responsible for closures in Gaza simply does not understand this fact.

Israel has now withdrawn once again from every square inch of Gaza. The people of Gaza can now choose to rebuild their country or to continue the acts of terrorism by firing more rockets into southern Israel. Let us hope that they will chose peace this time.

Israel actually went out of its way by not only allowing the passage of humanitarian supplies but also supplying fuel and power to Gaza. There is nothing in international law that requires a country to encourage economic activity in an entity that is ruled by a regime that is officially dedicated to its destruction and commits acts of war against its citizens. The combination of humanitarian supplies through the Israel-Gaza border and massive smuggling of foodstuffs through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border kept Gaza’s population adequately supplied.

The moral responsibility for the suffering in Gaza lies squarely with Hamas, which has rejected the conditions of the Quartet (U.S., U.N., EU and Russia) to engage with Hamas: accepting the previous agreements between the PLO and Israel; recognizing Israel (as the PLO had done) and renouncing violence. Israel made clear that it too would engage with Hamas if it accepted those very basic conditions. Indeed, Israel has encouraged economic development and international aid to the PA-controlled West Bank since PA president Mahmoud Abbas has long accepted the three conditions and has acted to prevent hostile acts against Israel.

It is my hope that the new Administration will work actively to make this cease fire durable and sustainable. In some way, the international community will now need to step up and insure that Hamas will be prevented from rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure. This is especially true of their capability to launch rockets and mortars against Israel. Such an inability on the part of Hamas would cause the efforts of all to be focused on the long-term improvement of daily living conditions for the people of Gaza.

If the day should come when Hamas must ends the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, renounces violence, and agrees to accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, I do believe that Israel will make painful concessions for peace. Thought it seems now to be quite far away, I still believe that a two state solution might people possible. I still pray for the day when and Israel and a Palestine will live side by side with in peace and security.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, wrote a prayer which ended as follows.

“May the day come soon when the people of Sderot and the people of Gaza will live together in peace. no longer fighting one another, but helping one another to live in freedom and dignity. That day will come. It could be a hundred years away or it could be today. It's up to Hamas and the countries that give it arms. And for the sake of Palestinian children, and Israeli children, Let it be today!

But in the meanwhile we say,
Beloved G-d - The G-d we worship - The G-d of life who told us to sanctify life
Al Rahman, the G-d of compassion - The G-d of Avraham, Ibrahim, father of our several faiths
Show us the way to live your way.
The way of Salaam,
The way of Shalom.
The way of Peace.”

To which we all say, “Amen!”