Posted on May 16, 2025 by Rabbi David Katz
While the world’s attention is being drawn to President Trump’s business dealings in the Mideast and the personal gift of a luxury jet offered to him by a foreign government, Gaza is being pummeled and many innocent people are dying. In the last number of weeks Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that “victory over Hamas, not the return of the hostages, is the supreme objective of the war in Gaza.” (See the Times of Israel article.) So the war continues unabated.
Netanyahu’s statement is no surprise to those who have been closely observing Israel’s military strategy since October 7th. Israel’s has neutralized, one by one, nearly all its surrounding enemies. Syria’s government has fallen. Hezbollah is out of commission. Iran is without air defenses and only has the weakened and forcefully challenged Houthis to lob its rockets. Through military force, assassinations or political leaders, support of rebels in Syria (even if they were and are terrorists,) and tactics worthy of spy thrillers – the blowing up of cell phones and walkie-talkies = Israel has made it clear that no one will feel safe it is attacked.
The question of whether it is morally justifiable to bombard Gaza, with the loss of so many innocent civilians, remains a matter of contention. The demonstrators on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem first directed their attention to the attempted weakening of the judiciary by the Netanyahu government and then to the unsuccessful attempts to bring the hostages home, with claims that Netanyahu has not been forthright in his aims and strategies. Less so has been the concern for civilian deaths. Why is this?
First, the military has termed civilian casualties as unavoidable, due to an enemy hiding in tunnels under hospitals and schools. The population has always trusted its military (these are the sons and daughters of Israel,) to tell the truth.
Second, since October 7th Israel has been traumatized and the people are more attuned to military arguments for defense and survival than to humanitarian concerns.
Third, since the founding of the State, there has always been a strong inclination by Israelis to say, “Damn world opinion. Where was the world in WWII when Jews went up in smoke? ‘Never again’ will the wholesale slaughter of Jews come without a response. Those who hurt Jews will now know what the result will be from a pogrom.”
Though this last response is emotionally laden it does make sense – Israel really is made safer when its enemies must weigh their options. But in another way, with the use of overpowering force and especially the withholding of food and medicine for the general population, Israel is weakened because it loses its moral and political standing as a civilized, democratic state.
For Jews in the diaspora there are consequences when women and children die and news stories show the immense suffering. The accusation of genocide is false slander – Israel is not killing Gazans to wipe them out – but the accusation of vengeance, i.e. a non-proportional response, remains alive. It is painful for Jews in America and around the world to witness the devastation and suffering
As Jews we want Israel to remain morally upright. Our very theology depends on it. We don’t want Israel to be like every other nation-state. We need it to be exceptional. Israel, for all reasons cited, sees its survival as depending on a decisive and complete military victory that devastates the perpetrators of October 7th.
Can we have it all – coming closer to Jewish moral and religious ideals while not ignoring the reality of war and survival?
Let’s hope for this scenario: The Prime Minister of Israel should come out everyday, stand at his official podium and say to the world: “Israel is a nation that strives for peace and we deeply and sincerely regret the loss of innocent life. Hamas should release the remaining hostages, lay down its arms and allow others to lead. Until then we will continue to pursue a strong military response. The decision whether this war continues is in the hands of Hamas. We hope that Hamas chooses peace.”
In other words, Israel, as a Jewish nation, should constantly reiterate Jewish values and place the responsibility for the casualties of violence directly on Hamas -where it belongs. When the violence ceases Israel should then take a forward role in the reconstitution of Gaza, if not politically or militarily, at the least, with an intense humanitarian effort to tend to those who have suffered. In this way Jewish ideals will be reaffirmed and Israel will again pursue its mission to be a light unto the nations.
L’shalom,
Rabbi David Katz
