The Blogs: An Open Letter to President Biden

Dear President Biden,

I am specifically writing to you and not targeting my words to the millions of people around the globe – including in the US – who have lost their moral compass.

The fact that anyone is demonstrating against Israel is entirely reprehensible. Those who ignore what took place during the Hamas massacre – when Hamas terrorists brutally raped Israeli women, barbarically beheaded Israeli babies, masochistically gauged out the eyes of Israelis, sadistically burned Israeli parents and children to death while they were tied up, and cruelly took hundreds of Israeli children, women, and senior citizens as hostages – are antisemites.

There is no other explanation for it. Just like the entire world in the time of Noah – the biblical story that Jews worldwide read in synagogue on Saturday – the pro-Hamas protestors have lost all sense of values and right from wrong.

However, you, Mr. President, are different. I met you in 2014 when I was a member of Knesset, and you came to Israel as vice president for Ariel Sharon’s funeral. We talked for a few minutes, and I found you to be a kind, value-centered individual who knows that Israel stands for human rights and social justice, is a force for good in the world and is up against inhumane enemies. Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, your words have supported your moral consciousness and values.

However, there is genuine concern within Israel that Washington will try to prevent Jerusalem from conclusively destroying Hamas. And that is why I am writing to you.

This past Yom Kippur, Mr. President, an elderly man sat behind me in synagogue. His son-in-law made a tremendous physical effort to help this gentleman get to his seat. This man did not seem to be mentally cued in to the prayers. He sat there for hours, and every few minutes, he would repeat the words of King David from Psalms 29:11: “The Lord gives strength to His nation. The Lord will bless His nation with peace.” It was both haunting and meditative as he repeated these words over and over again. Since October 7, I have continued to hear that man’s voice in my head over and over again.

Mr. President, I spent most of my life living in the US. I know how the US would respond if just one missile were randomly lobbed from Mexico into San Antonio. Mexico would feel the full brunt of the US Air Force, sending a message that this behavior will not be tolerated. I know how the US military would be sent into action if a terrorist organization landed at the beach in Delaware and slaughtered innocent women and children in their homes. That terror organization would be destroyed regardless of how many innocent people would be killed to accomplish that goal.

I know this because I know what the US did in the wake of September 11. More than 432,000 civilians have been killed in the US-led effort to destroy the Taliban and related terror organizations since 2001. Furthermore, the US post-9/11 wars have forcibly displaced at least 38 million people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya and Syria. It is sad. It is tragic. But it is the cost of war and the US having to protect itself from these terror organizations by destroying them.

The US knew that “The Lord gives strength to His nation” and then “The Lord will bless His nation with peace.”

Going back a bit further in history, when Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor, it was estimated that one million US troops would be killed in a standard military attack against Japan. So, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing between 129,000 and 226,000 people, mostly civilians, leading Japan to surrender. President Truman said he did not lose a moment’s sleep over the decision to drop those bombs and kill all those civilians. He had to protect the US and his troops. And he did so. Again, it’s sad and tragic. But it’s the cost of war.

The US knew that “The Lord gives strength to His nation” and then “The Lord will bless His nation with peace.”

Israel has spent decades trying to find ways to avoid destroying Hamas because of the innocent civilians who would be killed in the process. Hamas uses its citizens as human shields – hiding their leadership and missiles in civilian neighborhoods, hospitals, and mosques. They know that we are “moral” and won’t finish them off. And we haven’t.