American Jewish Leaders Must Speak Up Against Israel’s Inhumane War in Gaza
Out of commitment to Zionism and Jewish values, the heads of major U.S. Jewish groups, from the ADL to the Jewish Federations, must find the courage to demand an end to Israel’s indiscriminate killing in Gaza, bringing the hostages home now and back the beleaguered two-state peace camp.
American Jewish leaders – or most of them, at least – are in denial. They refuse to see what is happening all around them. They sing the praises of Zionism, as they should, but will not acknowledge what Israel’s disastrous policies have unleashed. They sit in silence, paralyzed, as Israel’s standing in the world plummets. They pretend that what is happening in Gaza is not happening in Gaza.
And instead of pleading for, and demanding, different policies from Israel’s government, they play the old game of going along with whatever that government wants, occasionally offering at best some not-really-serious suggestions for change.
The problem is that Americans of all political stripes are turning against Israel. While Democrats and progressives are far more skeptical about Israel than Republicans and conservatives, all groups show a decline in support. A recently released Pew Research Center poll showed that more than half, 53 percent, of U.S. adults now express unfavorable opinions of Israel.
Worse yet, there is significant erosion of American Jewish support for the Jewish state. While general sympathy for Israel remains reasonably strong, the situation among young Jews is disastrous. Many, if not most, young American Jews are drifting away from Israel, becoming hostile in some cases but more often simply indifferent and apathetic. In a poll just released by the Jewish Voters Resource Center, young Jews of all groups – Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and unattached – express substantially less attachment to Israel than older Jews.
If America’s Jews, Israel’s most reliable, consistent and enthusiastic supporters – the very core of pro-Israel sentiment in America – can no longer be counted on to stand with Israel, the implications for Israel’s political standing among traditional friends and allies are grim. Politicians across the political spectrum will take notice, and Israel’s falling poll numbers are likely to continue to fall. Israeli leaders have long taken American Jewish loyalties for granted. This is a serious mistake; they should not.
Why is all this happening? There are many reasons, of course. The intensity of college protests has waned, but radical groups with eliminationist politics continue to attack Israel on campus and make excuses for its enemies. Antisemitism percolates everywhere, and U.S. President Donald Trump bizarrely both promotes and opposes it; he declares himself its foremost opponent, and then allies himself with individuals and groups that proclaim explicit antisemitic views. And public sympathy over the plight of the hostages has faded with time, depriving Israel of its strongest argument for a tough line on Hamas.
Also, it is simply true that young Jews, like all young Americans, are much farther removed than their parents from the incredible Zionist miracle, soaring to marvelous heights in nearly every sphere, that is now 75 years old.
Initially, this war enjoyed broad support from Israel’s allies and friends, and from much of the international community. But that support is a distant memory. And what started as a just war, focused on Hamas killers, has become an inhumane war, a stomach-turning slaughter of far too many innocents, including tens of thousands of women and children.
And it is a war that makes no sense: not to Israelis, not to Americans, not to supporters of Israel in the international community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaims that more force will cause Hamas to become more flexible, but who believes this?
I am not a military strategist, and some modesty is required in evaluating Israel’s intentions. But some things are completely clear, even to the great majority of Jews and Israelis: Israel has seized nearly half of Gaza, but is far from controlling it and is wallowing in a war of attrition. It has neither subjugated Hamas nor freed the hostages. And what lies ahead, if the fighting continues, is a brutal war in crowded urban areas that will cause the death toll of civilians to skyrocket and likely lead to the killing of the hostages.
Yes, no one envies Mr. Netanyahu’s choices, but this is the man who has talked of “total victory” when there is no total victory. This is the man who has said that bringing home the hostages is not his first priority, even though leaving them to rot in the Hamas tunnels is not human, not Jewish and not Israeli. And this is the man who insists on prosecuting a war without a plan of action or a strategy to bring the war to a conclusion.
And while no Israeli will have an ounce of sympathy for a single Hamas terrorist or torturer, some Israelis watch with disgust and dismay as their government unintentionally takes the lives of helpless children but then refuses to refer to them as “innocents.” They are “fighters,” “terrorists,” “insurgents,” “combatants” and everything else, but never “innocents,” even though helpless children, by definition, can be nothing but innocent.
Watching this horror show, what should American Jews be doing? And by American Jews, I mean in particular the large, mainstream organizations that have the most influence and set the tone for the community: The Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, The Jewish Federations of North America and The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
They should, first of all, follow the example of the 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and issue a public statement condemning the radical policies of the government of Israel, with special emphasis on Israel’s war in Gaza. Only slightly more than 10 percent of the Board signed the statement, and some have been investigated and disciplined as a result.
Nonetheless, by taking this public stance, those signing the letter demonstrated courage that is rarely found among the foremost American Jewish leaders, and in the process they inspired others in the British Jewish community to express their deep concerns about Gaza.
This is not a time to deny the extremism of Israel’s government that American Jews read about in the newspaper and online every single day. This is not the time to turn a blind eye to the Kahanists and Jewish supremacists who sit in the government of Israel and profess to speak in the name of the Jewish state. This is a critical moment for Israel. Those who make claims to Jewish leadership must lead.
They should, second of all, assert their Zionist principles, in clear and unmistakable language. They should say that the Jews are an endangered people; that never has Zionism and Jewish sovereignty been more important than now; that Israel has real enemies and they must be confronted. At the same time, Zionism has always meant a state that is Jewish and democratic, and it must mean that now.
They should, third of all, demand an end to the indiscriminate killing in Gaza. Gaza is a complicated issue, and debating how Israel confronts the terror of Hamas is a legitimate and important matter. Claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza are outrageous and wrong, and outrageous as well is the use by Hamas of women and children as human shields. Nonetheless, military action by Israel, whatever its intention, has killed far too many defenseless children and subjected the population of the strip to inhumane conditions that must be unacceptable in civilized society. Israel must put an end to the killing and the near starvation of innocents.
They should, fourth of all, bring the hostages home now, no matter what. The overwhelming majority of Israelis favor such a policy, as do the overwhelming majority of Diaspora Jews. Hamas must be dealt with, and I have no doubt that they will be. But the hostages must come home. An Israeli government that forsakes them will never be forgiven, not by world Jewry and not by the citizens of Israel.
And finally, they should support the beleaguered peace camp by backing some kind of a two-state arrangement that will involve embracing Zionism and ultimately disarming Hamas and reforming the Palestinian Authority. The specifics here are less important than the intent, which is to speak up for the moral values that Zionism embodies and that bind Jews of the world to the Jewish state.
Can Jewish leaders be found who would have the courage to say these words? I do not know, but I am more optimistic than many. I remember the words of David Ben-Gurion, who said that the fate of Israel depends on two factors – her strength and her rectitude.
I know that American Jews believe in Israel’s strength, and I choose to believe that her rectitude is, for them, every bit as much a concern.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie is a writer, lecturer, and internationally-known religious leader. A bold, compelling, and inspiring speaker, he has presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos and has appeared on Fox news, CNN, and many other news outlets. He writes regularly for Time, The Huffington Post, The Jerusalem Post and the Israeli daily Haaretz. He speaks on a 
I have been waiting for Jewish leaders in America to speak out. There is a deafening silence while innocent civilians, especially children, are being killed, constantly displaced, and subject to starvation. The world is watching.
Thank you Eric for your courageous and spot on comments, and the four actions you recommend.
Thank you Eric for your courageous and spot on comments and the four actions you propose.