An update about Israel not seen in mass media was given by a former long-time member of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills who made Aliyah last year.
Yisrael Hacohen spoke from his home in Shoham, Israel, to over 60 people in a Zoom meeting on October 22. Hacohen spoke of “topics the media has ignored or underplayed so as to misinform and distort perceptions and put forth false narrative.”
The massacre on October 7 shows the “conflict with Hamas to be existential and not political or territorial.” There can be no political resolution only a military one, he said.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1373 made it illegal for UN members to aid terrorist entities or people, in active or passive ways. Hamas is a terrorist organization controlling Gaza.
Hamas continues its war crimes by kidnapping children and civilians and launching rockets at civilian targets in Israel.
Genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct public incitement, and complicity to commit genocide were made illegal for all UN members by the UN General Assembly Resolution 260A on December 9, 1948.
Currently, there are “shameless brutal public expressions of support for evil” and “reprehensible calls for genocide.”
“The blurring of Israel’s legitimacy in using force to limit and hamstring Israel’s actions on the battlefield is being misrepresented,” said Hacohen.
The UN’s Targeting rule stresses enemy combatants must be the focus of war. “Although objects that contribute to the fighting capabilities of those combatants, even human shields are considered legitimate targets,” said Hacohen.
Israel was immediately condemned for the bombing of a hospital in Gaza on October 17. Investigations proved that it was a misfire of a rocket by Islamic Jihad. “The reporting had an international impact.” Around 20% of Hamas’s rockets land in Gaza, said Hacohen
Israel completely left Gaza in 2005 so the Palestinians have self-ruled since then. Israel imposed an arms embargo but allowed pipes and concrete into Gaza to build homes, schools, and hospitals. Instead, Hamas made rockets from the pipes and military bunkers from the concrete.
Israel allowed Gazans to work in Israel to better their economic situation. These same workers “returned to provide detailed information to Hamas where families lived, which families have dogs, and which homes had alarms.” The Israel Defense Forces “discovered this information on the bodies of invading Hamas terrorists.”
“All the terrorist fighters we face today are comprised of Gaza children raised on hate” at schools, summer camps, and in the media. Public squares are named after terrorists, public posters hang in Gaza of terrorists. Family support and approval all have indoctrinated young ones “into becoming a genocidal warrior generation.”
“Hamas is a belief system, not a political movement. Its culture glorifies the waging of war against Jews, creating an enemy determined to destroy us. It has no value for human life,” said Hacohen.
Gaza is densely populated and cannot sustain itself. If Hamas is removed today, Hamas or new terrorism will reemerge. “The most humane resolution for this conflict is the evacuation of Gaza’s population to Egypt for eventual relocation to Arab-speaking nations,” said Hacohen.
Egypt refuses this option, even to accept American civilians, and has threatened to go to war with Israel over this issue.
Egypt has been spending billions and preparing for a war with Israel. Egypt has built tunnels under the Suez Canal and bridges into the Sinai Peninsula “to facilitate the movement of tanks in clear violation of a peace treaty with Israel.”
The Biden administration’s public statements of support have been very moving, but “behind-the-scenes activities have been very detrimental to Israel’s conduct of the war,” said Hacohen.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has threatened to halt armaments and expressed reluctance to provide bunker-busting bombs to pressure “America’s very cynical interpretation of the rules of war, which Israel already follows.”
The American insistence on humanitarian aid to Gaza harms Israel by preventing “the public chaos that would be needed to overrun the Hamas Overlords,” said Hacohen.
President Biden shifted the focus from helping Israel to helping Ukraine’s war against Russia. The American carriers sent to Israel “provide a photo op implying Israel cannot fend for itself.”
The Americans have also insisted Israel not pre-emptively strike Hezbollah in Lebanon. “If Israel would take the initiative and attack preemptively, as they did in the 6-Day War, Israel could effectively eliminate this threat from the north.”
Israel’s current season of rain and flash floods could hamper Israel’s ability to wage war. Sustaining a long war will be difficult for their more than 340,000 reserve soldiers and Israel’s agriculture and economy.
US Secretary of State Blinken’s insistence on meeting with Israel’s Emergency Cabinet for seven hours “while he strong-armed them to concede to his demands for aid to Gaza distracted Israel’s leadership from the conduct of the war. Biden’s visit similarly delayed military options.”
Hacohen is concerned about Israel “talking too much about what they want to do and procrastinating” and “tolerating an excessive amount of American interference in the conduct of the war.”
Hacohen gets news from Israeli, American, British, and Indian media. He stays away from the explicit videos from the massacre on October 7 “because I find that the horrors just leave me personally very depleted and don’t serve any useful purpose.” He recommends Caroline Glick’s interviews and news.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, who served as Assistant Rabbi and then Rabbi at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills for more than 30 years, said Israel has historically done a poor job in public relations. “They allow the Arabs to control the agenda.”
Since 1967, they say, “Everything is due to the occupation. That’s what all of the violence is about. Half of the Jewish community has bought into that.” The two-state solution is repeated as the answer.
There was no occupation in 1948, before the 1967 War, and during the 1929 Hevron massacre of Jews. Israel has not been in Gaza since 2005. Lebanon and Iran are not occupied by Israel. “Israel does not get out the obvious,” said Rabbi Schonfeld.
“The problem is there is a Leftist agenda in the press, said attendee Michael Kaner. “For example, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) cannot use the word ‘terrorists’ after a massacre.”
Carmella Schwartz asked what Americans can do to help Israel. Hacohen suggested writing to thank Senator Gillibrand and other politicians for their support, to financially support Israel, and contact relatives in Israel “to ask about their wellbeing and provide moral support.”
“I’m sure the outbreak of criticisms against our community will only increase and I’m afraid that you’re on the front line on that side.” It’s important to present and take Israel’s side.” “We still have to have information to answer our adversaries,” said Hacohen.
By David Schneier
