Thank you for this analysis. I have been asked often in the last few days, as the only Jew in a location with very few Jews, what my views ( often asked as "what do Jews think") on the current situation. It is important that we be able to explain the situation in a manner that reflects both our values and our support for Israel.

As an oversees member of a Progressive Moveement Synagogue in Israel, I have sent a special gift and an email of personal support . I encourage others to do so.

As a 6 year old growing up in Yonkers, New York, I was often beaten up by my classmates. For being Jewish. (I'm 75 now.)

Only when I fought back, with George Whittington at my back, did they stop the beatings. I needed to make them hurt. And we did.

George was a negro. They beat him because he was a negro. They beat me because I was a Jew.

So, if you want to know how I feel about Israel today: Make sure you hit them hard enough so they don't soon forget.

As always Eric's comments are on target and speak for me. Hamas displays their total lack of regard for life, anyone's,by use of human shields.A truce would only give them an opportunity to rearm and resume. May the new administration have the wisdom and fortitude to maintain positions that support Israel.

you are truly a blessing to us as our leader. thank you for this post.

While I basically agree with you about Israel defending itself, there is sadness in my heart that you do not take into account that ALL Israel is in dispute even the very streets of Tel Aviv. When the Arabs controlled lands inhabited largely by Arabs no national existance was even asked for much less wanted or even contemplated. The object of the haters is to destroy Israel and the Jews - it is taught from their mothers' very breast. Giving up any territory results in more terror until Israel will be tired and the last Israeli either dies, leaves or converts. If you believe the answer is that any part of our Holy Land should be Judenrein it is indeed a sad time.

Reform Jews might want to hear the response from J Street to Rabbi Yoffie;s attack on them. It follows:(Shalom, Rabbi Arthur Waskow)

January 4, 2009

STATEMENT BY JEREMY BEN-AMI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF J STREET, IN RESPONSE TO RABBI ERIC YOFFIE?S COMMENTS IN THE FORWARD ON DECEMBER
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J Street takes serious issue with Rabbi Eric Yoffie?s op-ed in the December 31st Forward, in which he attacks us for questioning the wisdom of the Gaza assault.

Our position on the crisis reflects our support for Israel, our hope for its security and our sympathy with the ongoing suffering of the people on both sides in this conflict. It is hard for us to understand how the leading reform rabbi in North America could call our effort to articulate a nuanced view on these difficult issues ?morally deficient.? If our views are ?naïve? and ?morally deficient?, then so are the views of scores of Israeli journalists, security analysts, distinguished authors, and retired IDF officers who have posed the same questions about the Gaza attack as we have.

And, when tens of thousands of pro-Israel American Jews are joining with statements made by J Street, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek, Israel Policy Forum and others calling for a ceasefire ? it is simply wrong to call these views out of touch with Jewish sentiment.

American Jews are, as Rabbi Yoffie says, by and large sensible and centrist, and they support Israel in her hour of need. But many of those same Jews ? and their friends who want the best for Israel ?
are well within their rights and within the centrist mainstream to question the wisdom of the actions taken this week, to question where they will lead and to ask the US and others to help bring an end to the violence as quickly as possible.

They are also in line with many in Israel, where on Friday, 30 peace organizations (including the Peres Center for Peace, the Geneva Initiative and Peace Now) signed a public call for an immediate ceasefire, joining such pillars of the national conscience as David Grossman and Amos Oz.

J Street understands that Hamas is a terrorist organization and a harsh enemy. We are neither dovish nor pacifist, nor are we blindly opposed to the use of force. We support Israel in defending and protecting its citizens from attack, including through military action if necessary and appropriate to the threat. We believe, however, that force cannot be Israel?s only or preponderant response ? even to Hamas.

We are pragmatists grounded in the real world and the lessons it teaches. As such ? and as avid supporters of Israel ? we are asking whether the specific actions taken by Israel in Gaza actually do advance Israel?s and America?s interests. In this case, J Street believes they do not. We believe that the actions taken this week ?
disproportionate to the threat and escalatory in nature ? will be seen, with time, as counterproductive. They will further isolate Israel and the US internationally, deepen hatred among the Palestinian and Israel peoples, foment extremism throughout the Arab world and undercut the position of more moderate Arab regimes.

Further, we have asked from the first day of this operation, for clarity as to Israel?s exit strategy. An operation of this scale is easy to start, but far more difficult to wind down successfully. The alternatives without a ceasefire ? ongoing Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, re-imposition by force of Fatah rule or international/Arab forces taking over ? all are either undesirable or unrealistic.

J Street believes the only option at this point for Israel and the U.S.
is to work urgently and immediately to achieve a ceasefire now that stops the violence, ends the rockets and eases the blockade of Gaza, rather than allowing a ground campaign to proceed. Perhaps if similar calls had been made ? and heeded ? in the first week of the Lebanon War in 2006, much of the damage and loss in the conflict could have been avoided.

Anshel Pfeffer, correspondent for Ha?aretz, portrayed the debate within the Jewish community outside Israel today slightly differently than Rabbi Yoffie. To him, the three parties to the debate are, first, the ?large number of Pavlovian flag-wavers, good and innocent Zionists and Jews who see only the trauma inflicted on the people of Sderot, Ashkelon and other parts of the country's south-west? and, second, those on the far left who feel ?compelled to atone for Israel's manifold sins and join its enemies in the demonstrations and sign petitions accusing the Zionist entity of war crimes.?

Then, says Pfeffer, there is a third stream of Jews - perhaps not the widest one, but I believe quite significant - who have more complex and uncomfortable feelings on the matter. They care deeply for Israel and understand even why its government felt compelled to launch the devastating Operation Cast Lead, but they are extremely disturbed and hurt by the level of civilian deaths and destruction that almost seems part and parcel of the action. Surely, they say, there must, there has to be another way of doing this. And they live with those doubts, often unexpressed, even among families and close friends because the worst thing they find is that others around them don't seem to discern between the different nuances, and can't find in themselves compassion for the dead and wounded on the other side. They begin asking themselves very awkward
questions: Are they surrounded by latent racists, or is something wrong with them that denies the feelings of certainty of those around them?
Or does everyone have similar doubts but are simply afraid to express them??

J Street proudly identifies itself as swimming in this third, centrist stream. The only difference: we are unwilling to leave our doubts unexpressed. The views we hold may not be those of Rabbi Yoffie, and
that?s fine. We accept and welcome an open and honest debate about
the merits of our pro-Israel positions.

But to call our views ?morally deficient?, ?naïve? and ?out of touch? with Jewish sentiment is to misread the emerging dynamics of centrist, pro-Israel Jews.

J Street is very grateful to Rabbi Yoffie for the important leadership he has demonstrated over the years in speaking out on controversial and complex issues. We look forward to continuing this conversation with respect for each other?s support for Israel and for our differences on how best to move forward.

Perhaps I should be posting this comment as a response to the eye-opening statement by Professor Liptz elsewhere on this blog. Having heard him lecture on many occasions, I am ready to accept his analyses as cogent and well-founded -- and in this instance, chilling. I'm distressed at the idea that Israel would show forbearance because it was "only" Sderot that was being attacked. Where would we be today if FDR had said it's only Pearl Harbor?

Accordingly, I post to the Yoffie article rather than to the Liptz article, because my response is really directed at the sincere, articulate, and hopelessly naive albeit predictable comments from Rabbi Waskow. I'm sure he knows more Talmud than I do, as well as more New Testament -- but from what I know, we are not enjoined to turn the other cheek, and we are enjoined to get the rodef (pursuer) before he can get us.

We all want peace. Most of us accept the idea of a 2-state solution. But a one-sided truce is not a truce, and a cease-fire means both sides have to cease firing.

If I am critical of Israel, it is for being too late and too moderate in its response. It is Hamas and not Israel that has turned many of us natural doves into hawks. I applaud Rabbi Yoffie's statements. I recognize that the Reform movement is diverse, and he does not speak for all Reform Jews. However, his position makes him our teacher, with a classroom enrollment far beyond any that Rabbi Waskow can even dream of. And I think the final words of his statement above bear repeating:

American Jews see Israel's Gaza offensive as a tragic necessity, unwelcome but inevitable, carried out by a reluctant Israeli government doing what it must to end rocket attacks against its citizenry. In short, American Jews are, as usual, sensible and centrist, and supporting Israel in her hour of need.

Bart, calling Rabbi Waskow and J Street Kapos is wrong and you should be ashamed. While I disagree with Rabbi Washo and J Street in this particular situation, I believe with all my heart that they have all the right in the world to make these statements. Putting Rabbi Waskow's title in quotes is an affront to all Rabbis.

J Street is naive and should know that a cease fire now is a waste of time. Rockets flying into Sderot cannot go unanswered. During the last "cease fire" both sides kept fighting; while nasty, this is a needed salvo in the conflict. But this situation is much more complex than name calling and this conversation became meaningless once we were reduced to pointing fingers.

Who can't pronounce shibboleth now?

Aryeh This war represents a total failure of diplomatic imagination. I mean come on! Diplomacy isn't about imagination it is about results. And for those of you who are somehow surprised by Rabbi Yoffie's response then you have not been paying attention.

Let's run through this slowly so even addle-pated lefties can understand this. The Waskows and the J Street crowd are interested in appeasing the Gentiles, particularly Christians. It would seem to me that, ever since the Babylonian Captivity, there has been a thread in Jewish life that seeks to suck up to our persecutors, whether Babylonians, Greeks, Syrians, Romans or whatever. That policy has led to pogroms, inquisitions, the Shoah and, now, the terrorist attacks on Israel. The quest for support from non-Jews is a fool's errand. We are on our own and that is how it has always been. It is long past time for us to have any faith that any non-Jew will treat us, or Israel, with anything resembling fairness and to stand up on our own and world criticism be damned. If the Gentiles could be trusted with treating us fairly, there would have been no need to create a Jewish state in the first place.

So, put bluntly, there is no need to apologize to vermin, like Waskow and J Street, that perepetuate the notion that we, as Jews, are somehow responsible for our children being butchered. There is certainly no need to kiss up to Saudi stooges like Walt and Mearsheimer(given how much money the Saudi desert bandits give to the JFK School of Government). The only way to prevent another Shoah, which can happen at any moment in the Diaspora, is to arm ourselves and understand that the Gentiles will butcher us again whenever the mood strikes them, regardless of our actions or inactions. Twenty six centuries of Jewish history show that to be the case. I dare anyone on this website to prove otherwise.

Anyone - especially Jews - calling those who hold opposing POV's vermin or Nazis reduces what otherwise might have been considered a reasonable and impassioned argument to a street brawl and immediately diminishes the discourse.

IMO there is no place within reasoned discussion for such imagery. Others may do it to us, but we simply cannot afford to do it to ourselves. When we do, we invite those who wish Jews and Israel ill to jump on the bandwagon and watch as we appear to be gleefully killing each other.

We as Jews should be acutely aware of the dangers of demonizing the other. While I do believe that Israel must respond to Hamas attacks, I know that there are others who, after careful consideration of the evidence, have come to a different conclusion about how Israel needs to respond. People can be human and thoughtful and well read, well-intentioned and still disagree. Because we all interpret events in a highly subjective fashion.
We have enough enemies around the world who will not stop to ask if we are for or against Israeli policy before calling for Jewish blood. Must we also savage one another for speaking the dictates of our individual consciences? I pray for peace, both within our community and around the world. We must be careful to not become calloused to human suffering while defending our existence, which can be a hard balancing act. Obviously, there will be a continuum of opinions about where to draw the line...and it takes all our voices to keep the conversation going in hopes of achieving a solution.
Demonizing those with alternative viewpoints in hopes of silencing dissent is (in my opinion)destructive to both our community and the democratic process.

Bart, for decades, the major defender and supporter of the State of Israel has been the United States of America. We have not only supplied Israel with billions in economic aid and with access to advanced planes, tanks, rockets and other weapons, we have used our good offices and our veto in the UN to prevent sanctions being imposed. An overwhelming Christian country with only a couple of per cent of Jews in the population has stood staunchly as the protector and ally of Israel. If you speak to Israelis, they will tell you that in the darkest times of Mid East turmoil, it was Christian Americans that came to Israel as tourists to keep their economy afloat. It is with the founding of the USA that Jews first became free and equal citizens in a country which has benefited from a wall of separation between church and state. It is here where Jews were first elected to public office, gained freedom of religion and where Jews attained high rank in the military. Unlike parts of Europe, we have had no ghettos or restrictions of what professions Jews could practice or whether they could marry. In no place have Jews been as secure, had as much opportunity, and had such freedom as in the United States.

The Balfour Declaration which laid the groundwork for a Jewish state in Palestine was issued by England which had a small Jewish population, with the backing of the U.S.

And who was it that thwarted the Nazi's effort to wipe out the Jews? It was the Allied armies including the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Jews fought bravely in all of these armed forces, but they could defeat the fascists alone.

I favor self sufficiency where possible and the concerted effort of men and women of good will in this complicated world where self sufficiency is not a realistic option. Even the United States, the lone super power, has been reminded in recent years that international cooperation is essential whether in dealing with an economic crisis, with disease epidemics, with the threat of war or terrorism.

I find balanced and respectful comments above on both sides of the argument, along with a few that are intemperate, and too many like the rebbetzin's that seem to say "If you don't agree with me, you're wrong."

Ms. Tevah's credentials do not make her any more expert on the subject at hand than any of the rest of us, while Rabbi Yoffie's credentials, and his access to information beyond what appears in the N Y Times, add credence to his statements. Based on my exposure to the Jewish community, I believe Rabbi Yoffie is right in his assessment of American Jewish opinion, and I believe his opinions on these complex issues are right as well.

I think M.B.'s criticism of Bart is coming from an emotional base. Of course we should not kick around the names of the Holocaust because it tarnishes their memory, but more importantly it loses its sting quickly. Still, Bart makes an important connection between the Kapos and J Street. The holy Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna said that the nature of evil is not acts of brutality, but rather to bend in the wind to whatever forces push against you. Many kapos were not brutal. But their complacence was what made them despicable. So too those organizations who base their opinions of who is the bully and who is the victim based on world opinion rather than an authentic evaluation is complicit in the evil currently being perpetrated against the Jews in Israel. Gentleman Jews are supposed to be ethical people not ethically trendy people.
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