Following is the Text of Rabbi Plotkin's sermon on the recent events in Israel and the Gaza Strip:
It’s a difficult time for our brothers and sisters in Israel right now. I don’t think I need to go into detail about what is happening as I know all of you read the paper, watch television news, listen to the radio or go on line to make yourself aware of what is happening in the world. Suffice it to say that for the second time in three years, Israel is faced with a battle it did not want, a battle it tried to avoid, but ultimately a battle it had to take on.
Critics of Israel are quick to say that Israel’s response is disproportionate. This time, they are right; Israel is being disproportionate in its response. In no way has Israel’s response been even close to as devastating as what it could be in proportion to what its enemies are attempting to do. Hamas openly calls for the destruction of Israel and in order to achieve that aim, it has fired more than 6500 rockets into Israel’s internationally recognized borders since Israel ended the occupation of the Gaza strip in 2005. Each one of those rockets was intended to hit a civilian target, and cause fear terror and death among the civilian population of southern Israel. Fortunately their aim is lousy and of the 6500+ rockets fired into Israel’s sovereign territory, only 28 individuals have lost their lives (28 too many, of course), but over 1000 have been physically injured.
When a rocket is launched from Gaza, Israeli civilians have approximately 15 seconds from the time the siren sounds to the moment the missile will hit somewhere. There is no advance warning of these attacks, they are not aimed at any military installation, and the sole purpose is to try to kill as many people as possible.
Imagine if one day in the United States, lets say 4 missiles were launched at us and three hit in cities while one crashed in an empty field. What would our reaction be? Actually we don’t have to imagine, that is exactly what happened on 9/11. The U.S. response, which was overwhelmingly supported by those in congress, was to make a full invasion of a country and topple the government of that nation, not because that nation actually was responsible for the attacks, but because they were hiding those responsible for the attacks. I supported this action then and still do today, it was the only possible response to show that the United States will not tolerate attacks on its sovereign soil.
This is what Israel is doing. There is no ambiguity here, notice not even the critics of Israel are saying that Israel should have sat there and taken it, just that the response is disproportionate, and as I said before, I agree, of course as you’ve probably guessed I agree with the critics in a way they wouldn’t like.
Unlike Hamas, which is shooting missiles into Israeli population centers indiscriminately, Israel has distributed nearly one million flyers to gaza warning people in an area to get away, effectively revealing the battle plan to the enemy. Over the past couple of days, Israel has ceased hostilities for a three hour window to allow almost 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza (if you don’t think that is much, think about how much we fit into a truck when we held the supply drive for New Orleans back in 2005). Unlike Hamas which seeks the utter destruction of Israel, Israel does not seek the destruction of the Palestinian people, but instead has taken risk after risk to try to achieve a peaceful resolution that recognizes both the Palestinian and Jewish right to sovereignty and self-determination.
Unlike Hamas, when a mistake is made by Israeli forces and civilians are unnecessarily harmed, the Israeli soldier will be held accountable, through demotion or discharge if the mistake was a result of incompetence or negligence, by was of criminal prosecution if the mistake was an intentional targeting of civilians. Unlike Hamas, Israeli forces are not hiding in schools, houses of worship, private homes, and hospitals, making civilian casualties not just likely, but a certainty.
Charles Krauthamer, in his column for the Washington post last week, which was regrettably not re-printed in Sundays Post-Dispatch, made a wonderful observation, “For Hamas, the only thing more prized than dead Jews are dead Palestinians.” Hamas loves the propaganda value of dead civilians so that corrupt agencies like the UN human rights commission, which is dominated by representatives of some of the most brutal dictators, can condemn Israel for human right abuses. This and because, deep down inside, they are cowards, is why they hide among civilians. Hamas wants to maximize death, while Israel is using machines to make automated Arabic language calls to individual Palestinians warning them of an imminent attack. (as an aside, Krauthammer’s column this week is excellent as well, hopefully it will be in Sunday’s post dispatch, but you can see it on-line at washitngotnpost.com.)
Israel’s goal is peace, or failing that, calm. Hamas’s goal is Israel’s destruction. If Hamas never shot another missile at Israel, if Hamas never again carried out a terrorist attack on Israel, Israel would let it be. When Israel actually did leave the Gaza strip, that was not enough for Hamas and an unprovoked barrage of missiles began.
What can Israel do, it is doing the only thing it can. The number one responsibility of a government is to provide for the safety of its citizens against foreign forces. Israel is attempting to do that, Hamas has failed miserably in that they have brought down a reign of death and destruction onto their people. While the bombs and missiles that have hit Gaza came from Israeli planes and other military equipment, not a single one would have been fired if Hamas simply let Israel be.
When Hamas won the Palestinian elections a couple of years back, they had an opportunity to actually do what was right for their people. I said that they had a choice, they could pursue a life of peace and prosperity for their people, tearing down the layers of corruption in civic life that Fatah had erected in order to bring about a better life for their people and working to be recognized as a nation among the nations, or they could continue to obsess about Israel, ultimately choosing death for themselves, and death and terror for their people. It has been clear for some time, but is now completely clear that Hamas has chosen death and terror for its people.
Therefore, the only way that Israel can ultimately bring about peace and calm for its own citizens is to do everything it can to destroy Hamas. Of course it will never be fully destroyed, evil will always exist in this world, but it can be destroyed in the sense that it wields no power, and holds no sway. Unfortunately this task can only be completed in ways that go beyond the military (although the military response is the proper start). The Palestinian people have had their minds poised with hate, propaganda and lies for too many years. Any attack by Israel is depicted as raw, naked aggression, and any tiny victory (or even basic survival) by Hamas or its allies is depicted as a great victory over their aggressors.
Ultimately, this conflict it not going to be solved in this generation. Israel then must do everything it can to completely separate themselves from the Palestinians through both a strengthening of borders, like the highly successful separation fence, and through a removal of Israelis from indefensible enclaves in the majority Palestinian areas such as Hebron. Such a move is painful, but it is the only way for Israel to be able to focus its efforts on defending its citizens and to be rid of any semblance of an occupation. The borders can then be closed, as any nation has the right to keep its borders closed, and Israel can hold the Palestinian Authority (whomever that may be) to the same standards that any sovereign nation should be held to.
Of course for groups such as Hamas and Hezzbollah, the very presence of Israel is an occupation, so that will not solve every problem in this conflict, but it can solve many problems. One positive development in all of this has been the position of Egypt, not just as a serious peace broker, but their refusal to do anything to support Hamas. Egypt could fling open the gate between itself and Gaza and let people and weapons flood in and out in both directions, but it will not. It has been accused by nations such as Iran of complicity and virtually allying itself with Israel, and Iran seems to be right (not that Egypt would admit it).
This is the hope that comes from this grave situation. There is a chance that this will be remembered as a time when a tide turned in the Muslim world, when one nation, perhaps almost sheepishly said no to the terrorists, served as a broker of peace and moved itself and other similar nations (such as Jordan) into the fold of the west, decrying and even reversing the religion of death and destruction that has effectively replaced Islam in the nominally Muslim world.
We don’t know how things will turn out. It appears that the Israeli military, citizens and government are better prepared and more determined in this battle than in the mess that the battle against Hezbollah in 2006 turned out to be. It appears that Israel has been highly successful in taking down its desired targets, most notably the tunnels that are used to smuggle weapons (but not food) into Gaza. It appears, that despite the weak response to all of this from the United States due to our extended period of power transfer, that Israel will be allowed to pursue its legitimate military goals. (as an aside, we now see the danger in the unnecessarily long period of power transfer in this country. When Israel elects its next prime minister this spring, he or she will be sworn in the next day, and THEN form a cabinet and administration).
This leaves one question for us, how can we help. Fortunately on the domestic front, as is usually the case there is full bi-partisan support for Israel’s right to defend itself and protect its citizens in our congress, this was demonstrated in the voice vote passage of a resolution that was co-sponsored by the Majority and Minority leaders of the Senate, with a similar House resolution expected next week. More importantly is to support the groups that support Israel. Most notably two groups are in need of your support right now. Magen David Adom, the Israeli version of the Red Cross (not recognized by Red Cross International, which is separate from American Red Cross), does all of the wonderful things that the Red Cross here does and more, blood drives, shelters for those made homeless by acts of war or nature, and ambulances to quickly take the wounded to receive top notch medical care (without concern for the nationality or religion of the wounded). American friends of Magen David Adom is the vehicle through which you can support this important work.
The other group is American friends of the Israel Defense Forces. This group serves in effect as a USO for Israeli soldiers, providing respite, care packages, letters, entertainment, and so many other support services to those preparing for battle, in battle, and coming out of battle. Both of these groups have significant presences on the web, and you can donate securely and tax deductibly through their websites or by calling them directly. Most importantly, help keep individuals who don’t understand what is happening informed. Make sure, if this topic comes up, that your family, friends, co-workers and anyone else, know that the Israeli action is based solely on the fact that Hamas has fired thousands of Rockets toward populated areas inside of Israel. You will sometimes run into the willfully ignorant, those who think that rockets landing in residential areas are somehow no big deal. Don’t fight or argue, as there are some who will never accept that Israel has the right to defend itself, and you will not convince such people otherwise.
The final thing we can do is to pray, as that is the purpose of our gathering tonight. Let us pray for the Peace of the Land of Israel, for all of its inhabitants, for all who lead it, for all who support it, and for all who love it.
