Israel Update

Part of the reason that I haven’t posted much recently is because of the current situation in Israel. I’m spending a lot of time reading news updates, watching videos online, and following various discussions on social media. (While also working and running all over the place for my kids' activities.) It’s terribly sad reading about the people killed in the Hamas attack and those currently being held hostage. How can people take infants and toddlers hostage? That's barbaric.

Naturally, Israel couldn’t just say, “this is terrible and we really hope Hamas gives us back those who were kidnapped. Sure, the Hamas charter calls for the destruction of our country, but we’re sure that if we do nothing there will be a peaceful solution.” Unfortunately, innocent Palestinians are getting killed in retaliatory attacks. I’m like nearly everyone else in the world who truly wants the bloodshed to end and peace in the region. That's never going to happen as long as Hamas runs Gaza. 

Does Israel deserve criticism? Absolutely. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone on for decades, and Israel is certainly not blameless. But I'm also not sure what Israel can do when Hamas wants the country destroyed. Israel pulled out of Gaza nearly 20 years ago, and Hamas governs Gaza. What are they doing to improve the lives of its citizens? I'm sure that some will blame the Israeli-Egyptian blockade for all the ills of Gaza though again, the reason for this is to prevent weapons from getting into Gaza. 

Now that Israel has been forced to respond, innocent people are being killed. I'm sure you saw the awful news that hundreds of people were killed at a Gaza hospital. The immediate story was that this was an Israeli attack, but according to President Biden per the National Security Council, the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group that's not going to be considered for a Nobel Peace prize. Of course, that didn't stop people from blaming Israel and Jews in general. A historic (though defunct) synagogue in Tunisia was destroyed, and a Berlin synagogue was bombed. There is also increased security at my synagogue and others throughout the country. We have nothing to do with what's happening in Israel, but there are people out there looking for any excuse to target Jews. I'm tired of people online (and at least one member of Congress) refusing to blame Hamas for anything and criticizing Israel for everything. Most people truly want peace and for the Palestinian people to be successful. But that should be the same for Israel too.