A Rosh Hashana Sermon

Israel has made significant progress in its pursuit of military victory in Gaza and Lebanon.  But it is losing the war of public opinion, and my message to you on these high holy days is that you can help win this battle.

Nowhere was the animosity toward Israel more obvious than last week, when the U.N. voted 124-14 (with 43 abstentions) to end Israel’s “unlawful presence” in the West Bank.  If followed, the resolution would rid that land, which includes the Old City and Western Wall of Jerusalem, of Jews.

Flagging world opinion against Jews led to the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands to cut off arms sales to Israel.  A recent survey of 8,000 Jews in Europe found that 96% had encountered antisemitism in their daily lives.  In France, nearly 1,700 antisemitic attacks were reported in 2023, compared to just over 400 the year before.  The same pattern is true in Belgium, Italy and anywhere else you look.

Of course, antisemitism is raging in the U.S.  Look at what is happening on college campuses and among politicians, some of whom accused Israel of genocide, yet were given speaking platforms at the recent national party conventions.

Israel’s wars are not popular causes. The media – virtually all the leading networks and newspapers – routinely distort the facts and bias their reporting against Israel.  Consider the recent pager attack against Hezbollah.  This was the most precise attack in the history of warfare, killing or injuring nearly 3,000 terrorists and only a handful of civilians.  Yet the media chose to focus on the one or two civilians who were killed, and even falsely accused Israel of violating the laws of international warfare.

This is why I call upon you today to stand up for Israel.  You don’t have to agree with everything Israel does or every policy it puts forth.  But you need to respond to the misinformation and biased opinions that all of us hear on a regular basis.

Here are some of the common false accusations that I and I am sure many of you have heard.  More importantly, I will arm you with the facts to correct those mistakes:

More than 40,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza

This number comes from what is often called the Gaza health ministry.  But that health ministry is Hamas, and Hamas cannot be trusted.  Take, for example, the incident at the Al-Ahli hospital in October.  Hamas reported that an Israel bomb struck the hospital and killed 500 people.  In fact, it was an errant Hamas missile that struck a parking lot and caused far fewer casualties.  Hamas wins by inflating the death count, because that inflames world opinion against Israel.  The truth is that we don’t know how many Gazans have been killed, much less how many of them were civilians, since Hamas’ 40,000 number does not distinguish between terrorists and everyone else.

Israel is “collectively punishing” the Palestinians or committing genocide

UN Secretary Guterres and many others have accused Israel of collective punishment.  Some members of Congress (and many foreign diplomats) have directly accused it of genocide or have made mealy mouthed statements that amount to the same.  The term “genocide” was coined in the aftermath of the Holocaust and is defined by the UN as a proven intent to “physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”  That was true of Hamas on October 7, but it is not true of Israel.  Israel has taken unprecedented steps to protect civilians and evacuate them from war zones.  There is no evidence that it has ever intentionally targeted civilians, yet Hamas does this every day through its use of Gazans as human shields.  Israel has facilitated an enormous amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including the provision of polio vaccines.  To accuse Israel of genocide is a form of Holocaust denial; it demonstrates a willful ignorance or disbelief of the facts of the Holocaust.

Civilian deaths have caused younger generations of Gazans to hate Israel

There is no reliable polling data to suggest this is happening.  It is likely that many Gazans understand that the tragedy that has befallen them is entirely the fault of Hamas and welcome the Israeli attacks against terrorists.  But few Gazans would say so; if they did, they would become targets of Hamas.  Young Gazans were deeply antagonistic toward Israel before October 7.  Those children were taught by Hamas, which ran the UNRWA schools, that one of their goals should be to kill as many Jews as possible and to become “martyrs.”  Approximately three quarters of the terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7 were educated in UNRWA/Hamas schools.

There is a famine in Gaza, and its citizens are starving

There have been repeated warnings by the UN and by other groups, such as Human Rights Watch (which has a strong anti-Israel history) of impending famine in Gaza.  But that has not come to pass.  As recently as June, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Classification System found that there was no famine.  Indeed, Israel has increased the flow of humanitarian supplies (including food) to Gaza from pre-October 7 levels.  But some of that aid is stolen by Hamas.

Netanyahu is an evil, corrupt leader and does not deserve our support 

Many Americans disagree with some of the policies that Netanyahu has advanced, such as the so-called judicial reform (which has not been enacted).  It is your right to disagree and to advocate for what you prefer.  But all the major military decisions since October 7 have had the full support of Netanyahu’s cabinet.  The aggression on the part of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and all of Israel’s other enemies will not change if someone else becomes prime minister.

Isreal’s actions, such as the pager attack, will lead to an escalation of violence

Israel and Lebanon are engaged in a “tit-for-tat cycle” of violence 

These two charges are related, and both miss the point.  Hezbollah located hundreds (possibly thousands) of missile launchers in Lebanon prior to October 7.  Only after it started using those launchers on October 8 did Israel respond.  If Hezbollah would end its unprovoked attacks, Israel would end its responses.  Hezbollah’s attacks have forced the evacuation of nearly 100,000 Israeli citizens, and its military presence is in violation of UN resolution 1701.  The escalation of violence in Lebanon is completely due to Hezbollah’s actions.

Israel has bombed and destroyed most of the buildings in Gaza

Many buildings in Gaza, particularly in towns like Khan Yunis, have been destroyed and are no longer habitable.  But it is the fault of Hamas, not Israel.  Those buildings were destroyed for two reasons.  Either they were being used for military purposes (firing of rockets, storage of weapons, hideouts for terrorists) or they were booby trapped.  The IDF attacks only military targets, and a building used for military purposes is a legitimate target.  When the IDF encounters a home or building that has been booby trapped, it has no choice but to destroy it.

Apartheid, racism and “settler-colonialism”

There are other, more desperate criticisms of Israel, such as accusing it of apartheid, racism or “settler-colonialism.”  Those charges are false.  Apartheid refers to laws or regulations that discriminate based on race, ethnicity or religion.  Israel has no such laws.  All Israeli citizens have the same rights, although its Arab citizens generally do not serve in the military.  Arabs have leadership roles in all parts of Israeli society – in government, law, medicine, academia and business. In the West Bank and Gaza, Israel imposes some restrictions on the Palestinians for security reasons.  But it is not accurate to say those policies are motivated by racism.  The Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel.  Those who claim it is engaged in settler colonialism are ignorant of the thousands of years of Jewish presence in Israel. Anyone who believes the charges of apartheid, racism or settler-colonialism is likely an antisemite, and there is little you can do to persuade them otherwise.

As we approach the new year, my hope is that I have armed you with accurate, fact-based rebuttals to criticisms of Israel that you will face.  Those who believe the charges against Israel that I have identified are aiding its enemies.  At best, they are preventing Israel from winning this war, and at worst they are prolonging it and causing more civilian casualties.

Each of us can help win the battle of public opinion.

On Rosh Hashanah, we read the story of how God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  A similar sacrifice is asked of Israeli families every day.  Mothers and fathers are asked to enlist their 18-year-old daughters and sons into the IDF.  More than 700 of those soldiers have lost their lives in this conflict; many more have been injured.

Not nearly as much is asked of us.  But it is our duty to stand up for truth and accuracy in defense of the homeland of the Jewish people.