Leading Jews Attack Netanyahu’s Wars
By John J. Duncan Jr.
On May 27, Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister of Israel, published a column in which he wrote: “What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians … Yes, Israel is committing war crimes.”
Olmert, who was prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, said, “Never since its establishment has the state of Israel waged such a war… the criminal gang headed by Benjamin Netanyahu has set a precedent without equal in Israel’s history…”
He added: “Recent operations in the Gaza Strip have nothing to do with legitimate war goals. This is now a private political war.”
Rabbi Linda Holtzman said, “We cannot allow one tragedy to justify another,” and wrote that she was joining “thousands of American Jews who were calling on the United States Government to end the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza.”
She added: “It is my prayer that we can continue to resist and speak out as we see the people of Gaza being bombed, starved and buried under rubble.”
Another rabbi, Alissa Wise, an organizer with Rabbis for Ceasefire, said: “Israel is not a Jewish person. Israel is a state. God forbid we should not be able to cry out when states are committing horrific genocidal violence in the name of the Jewish people.”
Peter Beinart, a leading Jewish columnist and author who describes himself as an observant Jew, became so upset that he wrote a book called “Being Jewish After The Destruction Of Gaza.”
He said he wrote the book to explain why “our community has gone so profoundly wrong” and why “I believe what we are doing is in violation of our best ethical and religious tradition.”
Beinart spoke in an interview about the “number of children being killed” and there being more “child amputees than any other place in modern history.” He said, “I can’t believe this is happening.” He added that he was seeing “so many good and decent people who I know, who seem to be able to block out the screams.”
Thomas Friedman’s New York Times column of May 9 was headlined “This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally,” and he wrote, “Netanyahu is not our friend.”
Over 1,000 members of the Israeli Defense Force signed letters in early May “calling on Netanyahu to stop the war.” One of the signers was Dan Halutz, the former head of the Army.
On April 19, the 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews sent a letter which said: “Silence is seen as support for policies that run contrary to our Jewish values.” The letter criticized what it called this “most extremist of Israeli governments” and said, “We stand against the war.”
Jeffrey Sachs, a Jewish Columbia professor and renowned foreign policy expert, said in an interview that Netanyahu is “one of the most violent and dangerous people in the world” and “is leading Israel into the greatest insecurity of its modern history – complete diplomatic isolation.”
Dave Smith, a very well-respected Jewish comedian and podcaster, said on one of his podcasts: “I think Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is horrific and inexcusable,” and “to watch us flirt with another war in the Middle East is just insane to me.”
Now, the indicted war criminal Netanyahu has expanded his killing rampage from Gaza to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. These are really not wars. They are really one-sided slaughters of women, children, old people, and almost defenseless soldiers.
Sen. Charles Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., said in a Senate Floor speech last year that Netanyahu had been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
In a speech in the Senate a few months later, Schumer said he would not “label most criticism of Israel and the Israeli government as antisemitic. I don’t believe that criticism is.”
Now, though, because of massive campaign contributions for members of Congress, or fear of campaign contributions against them directed by the Israel Lobby, the U.S. Congress and our policy in the Middle East are totally controlled by Netanyahu. He led us into an unnecessary war in Iraq, and now in Iran.
As the late syndicated columnist Charley Reese wrote in 2005, almost all the terrorism against the U.S. has been because of our “one-sided support” for Israel’s bombing and killing throughout the Middle East.
The Bible tells us in both the Old and New Testaments to “Seek peace and pursue it.” We will not be doing this as long as we continue to support all of Israel’s wars.
