Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and Emmanuel Macron, President of France, have distinguished themselves as being naïve leaders on the world scene. They have both announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state. They both ignore the fact that such a move rewards Hamas for its terrorism and disincentivizes Hamas from seeking peace. Hamas has, indeed, suddenly stopped going to the negotiating table once these intentions were made known. Why should they? If they hold out any further, they will reap even greater rewards.
Furthermore, what does recognizing a Palestinian state mean? What are the borders of this state? Who heads it? What is its constitution?
These details don’t seem to concern the two heads of state.
Then came the letter signed by 80 “Orthodox Rabbis.” The letter, spearheaded by Rabbi Yosef Blau, former mashgiach ruchani at Yeshiva University, excoriates Israel for its conduct by the IDF. It admits that what Hamas did on October 7 is beyond horrific but claims Israel’s “overreaction” cannot be overlooked. The alleged starvation, “which Israel let happen under its watch,” supposedly has no moral backing. The killing of so many civilians, it claims, also has no justification. It goes on to condemn the so-called “settler violence” against innocent Palestinians.
In a brilliant letter by the CJV, which attracted over 160 signatories, and in an equally brilliant article in the Times of Israel by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, the case is made that starvation is not the fault of Israel, but of Hamas, which routinely looted the caravans of food shipped from Israel. Besides, since when is it heard that an army must feed its enemies? As Colonel John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, stated, “We have never seen an army feeding its enemies.” The United States and Great Britain certainly did not feed their enemies during the bombing of Germany in World War II.
The pictures of starving-looking children have all been proven to be either of children with a genetic disorder or from other conflicts entirely.
The high civilian death rate is entirely the fault of Hamas, which chooses to embed itself among civilians, in mosques, and in hospitals and schools.
As for “settler violence,” those incidents are quite rare. Besides, most of the incidents were provoked by terrorist activities carried out by Palestinians. The murder of men, women, and children has become routine by these terrorists. Yet the letter by the rabbis does not even give the terrorism any mention.
All that the letter accomplishes is feeding the hands of our enemies throughout the globe. They can now declare, “See, even Orthodox rabbis confess there are major abuses by the IDF and settlers.” By the way, the Orthodox credentials of many of these rabbis are in question. A good number of them are members of Open Orthodoxy, which is not recognized by mainstream Orthodoxy. Many of the signing rabbis were women.
So, from Starmer and Macron, both afraid of their large Muslim populations, it is to be expected that they cave in to Muslim pressures. But as far as the 80 “Orthodox Rabbis” are concerned, it’s a real shanda.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.