No buts about it

Is there such a thing as a bipartisan issue in the US? 

Israel is at war. How tired are you getting of reading that, feeling it, knowing that we are still fighting to defend our people, to secure our borders? I am. And as time passes, I find that I have less and less patience for those who would argue restraint. Those who comment on Israel’s military strategies, our moral compass, our end game, trying to ‘help’ us do what is right.

It feels like just yesterday and forever ago that we faced a despicable enemy whose tactics were almost beyond human comprehension for this day and age. Yet it is a part of us now, an indescribable pain of loss and anger. We cannot forget our friends and relatives who lost their lives on October 7 and in the ensuing battles. Tens of thousands of Israeli families are still displaced, unable to live in their homes in Israel’s north and south, bombarded with terrorist missiles from Gaza and from Lebanon.

Iran is the common thread in this link, and even missiles from the east, opening up a new-old border, again fueled by Iranian coordination and support. As the situation in the north escalates with Hezbollah’s home-stored missiles bombarding Israeli homes and citizens, I ask our friends: What would you do? Would the state of Ohio sit tight while Canada targets Cuyahoga County, attacking with missiles over the border with Lake Erie? Would New York open a front on the Atlantic shoreline?

Republicans, on the whole, stand with Israel, and some leaders have come out publicly with expressions of unconditional support, especially in this time of war with our enemies. Democrats are more of a mixed bag. Dare I say it is a rare Democratic candidate who’s willing at this stage of the election game to come out in support of Israel without a tag line of :’But..’

For them it is not a zero-sum game but an opportunity to claim the moral high ground and to lecture Israel on what it should or shouldn’t do in this very real war.

On antisemitism, the message is not much different. Yes, they will say, we are uncomfortable with hate language on the streets and on campuses across the US. But – and there’s that critical preposition again –  Democrat politicians running for office often quote the first amendment, safe spaces, the whole shebang, at least on behalf of Jew-haters who want to express themselves. In my admittedly beloved Cleveland, the local Jewish population is encouraged to participate in county meetings, to counteract the antisemitic and antiIsrael protesters. Synagogues, schools, and marches to free the hostages are protected by police patrol; people remain vigilant and some dare to fly the Israeli flag while others avoid that, in fear of neighborhood retribution.

Have American Jews become second-class citizens, less protected by freedom of religion and living in a newly visible fear of expressing their beliefs?

Israel, we are strong. And we do what is right, to defend our land and ensure our people’s right to live in security and freedom. What the US chooses to say and do is nice when it supports us. But it is not our end game, and neither is it our moral yardstick. We know what we must do and our leaders cannot hesitate, nor be influenced by divisive politics in America. Republican candidates with consistently supportive records on Israel, we salute you and pray you are reelected to your positions. Democrats, we ask that you get on the right side of history, as a party, and support Israel in its war on terrorism – without that ‘but’.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Because in the end, history will judge all of us on our morality and we want to find ourselves on the right side. Say YES to a strong Israel, as we like to say, and together we will ensure the eradication of terror and the instilling of peaceful security in our region and for the world.

Praying for the welfare of our soldiers, the displaced families from their homes and the return of the hostages today, if not sooner.

Happy almost – Rosh – Hashana, friends.