The Cost of Lies

Last night, Sarah Milgrim—a Reform Jew from Overland Park, Kansas—and her soon-to-be fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky, fell victim to a lone-wolf terrorist. He was radicalized by a torrent of lies portraying Israel not as a nation defending its citizens but as a genocidal regime.

Israel’s military drops more than two million leaflets urging civilians to evacuate, supplements these with phone calls and text messages, and even broadcasts warnings over loudspeakers. No modern army spares such effort to protect non-combatants. Yet every headline declares “indiscriminate killing,” erasing these life-saving measures. All war comes with civilian costs, even if we wish it did not. Fighting Hamas is not genocide.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher then declared  that “Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” warning of famine for 2.1 million people and the imminent death of “There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them.” 48 hours later it didn’t happen. No babies died as far as we can tell, and in fact, it turned out the report he misquoted only claimed risk of malnutrition in the next year, not imminent death in the next 48 hours. It’s such a glaring error one must question whether it was an intentional blood libel, and the person doing the lying oversees humanitarian relief for the UN! Fletcher omitted, also, that Hamas systematically seizes aid convoys, shores up its tunnels and bunkers with civilian shields, and redirects relief for military use. Such omissions turn humanitarian rhetoric into a weapon against Jews.

Influencers on every side pour fuel on the fire. Hasan Piker, the second most-watched Twitch streamer in America, routinely brands Israel as doing “genocide” backed by the United States. On the opposite flank, Candace Owens traffics in medieval blood libels, claiming “political Jews control the media” and saying just yesterday that “God will have his vengeance on those that defend what is happening in Gaza.” She doesn’t mean she disagrees with the war; she is lying about genocide. When left-wing firebrands and right-wing demagogues converge in demonizing Israel, they normalize antisemitic violence.

Here in Kansas, we never believed ourselves insulated from that hatred. But Sarah and Yaron’s murders remind us again we cannot afford to harbor illusions the way the irresponsible press and NGOs do. Since October 7, 2023, antisemitic attacks worldwide have surged: shootings, arson, vandalism, and even foiled terror plots. In the United States alone, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 9,354 incidents last year—an almost 900 percent increase over the past decade—and violent assaults rose sharply. If we allow lies about Israel to go unchallenged, we court more bloodshed.

We must insist on accountability. Journalists must report the full context, not sensational half-truths, or there should be practical consequences. UN agencies must acknowledge Hamas’s war crimes alongside every criticism of Israel, and those criticisms must be true, even if it’s hard to sort fact from fiction when you employ Hamas terrorists like the UN does. Social media platforms must enforce hate-speech policies without favor, and we should openly condemn those who equate war with genocide. And every citizen must counter falsehoods, in a democratic nation the responsibility to be educated is on us individually.

And now we see the cost of lies. Sarah and Yaron had their lives stolen because of lies. How many more? As Rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom, I mourn with Sarah’s family in Overland Park and stand with Yaron’s loved ones. We must stand up for two great blessings of our people, the American Jewish community and the modern State of Israel, with moral clarity and unflinching truth. Lies about Israel are not abstract grievances—they are kindling for terror. If we allow the fire to grow and spread, who knows where it will lead?

Sources:

1. Just Security, “Israeli Civilian Harm Mitigation in Gaza: Gold Standard or Fool’s Gold?” April 2024; Wikipedia, “Gaza War (2008–2009)”
2. United Nations Press, “’Israel deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions…’ – Fletcher,” May 13, 2025; UN OCHA, “UN Relief Chief calls on Security Council to act decisively to prevent genocide in Gaza,” May 2025
3. Responsible Statecraft, “Hasan Piker: What feds don’t want you to think about my detention,” May 2025; X (formerly Twitter), hasanthehun tweets, May 2025
4. Anti-Defamation League, “Candace Owens,” 2024; Times of India, “From Israel did 9/11 to Stalin was a Jew: Candace Owens’ craziest conspiracy theories,” October 2024
5. Reuters, “Antisemitic and anti-Israeli attacks around world since October 7, 2023,” May 22, 2025; Axios, “ADL: Antisemitic incidents hit record level in 2024,” April 22, 2025