OP-ED - Gaza presents a landscape of destruction on an apocalyptic scale. The images of starved children juxtaposed with right-wing Israeli citizens blocking delivery of life-giving food have shocked even the most callous hearts. Waves of children with amputated limbs from indiscriminate Israeli bombing abound. The unfathomable human suffering that Israel has wrought upon Gazans is manifest. This horror has been witnessed in live time and documents through countless real-time images. While the suffering of Gazans is blatant, we must also not overlook the other victims of these Israeli atrocities---the Jewish People.
Israel commits its crimes not in the name of Israel, but rather in the name of the Jewish People. Israel has long attempted to conflate the political body of Israel with the revered religion of Judaism. By doing so, Israel unfairly spreads culpability for its horrific misdeeds to all Jewish people. The results of this misrepresentation are unmistakable: As Israeli violence, cruelty and intolerance increase, acts around the world against Jewish people increase.
High-profile Israeli military campaigns are consistently followed by sharp, immediate, and global increases in antisemitic incidents. Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2008-2009 saw antisemitic acts in the UK increase to more than any time since Israel’s 1982 invasion and subsequent occupation of a portion of Lebanon. During the 2008-2009 period, the ADL documented a “dramatic spike” in antisemitic acts and France recorded over 100 such incidents. During the 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza, the Kantor Center saw a new peak of antisemitism, France saw rioting against Jewish-owned businesses and the UK saw a record number of incidents. The 2021 Israeli attack on Gaza led to the ADL reporting a 75% increase in antisemitic act. Initially, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack led to widespread sympathy and compassion for Jewish people, but as Israeli response has devolved into a genocide, once again Jewish people have been unfairly targeted for Israeli misconduct. The ADL has recorded a 388% increase in antisemitic attacks, and this pattern has been repeated in France, Germany, Australia, and Canada.
Israeli actions have made that country a pariah nation. The South African case brought in the International Court of Justice resulted in a preliminary ruling finding it “plausible” that Israel’s acts violated international law. The court ordered that humanitarian aid be allowed. Israel has ignored this ruling. The massive loss of human life, together with the intentional widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, universities, places of worship, lend overwhelming credence to allegations of genocide. Israel has no military benefit to gain from killing of more Gazans. Israel has no legal justification for violating the Geneva Convention’s prohibition of starving mass civilian populations. Israel has no security to gain by disregard of international law. Indeed, Israeli actions have served to endanger the Israeli hostages and led to unnecessary Israeli death. Israel’s abominable actions fulfill only one goal: ethnically cleansing Gaza of the indigenous people by either exile or death.
Israeli officials provide statements that leave little room for denying Israel’s genocidal intent. Senior Israeli officials have referred to Gazans as “human animals” and openly call for the destruction of Gaza. Significant elements within the Israeli population support killing of every man, woman, and child in Gaza. While the facts speak for themselves, the spoken intent of those within Israel make a finding of genocidal intent unavoidable. Sadly, innocent Jewish people have been cast by Israel as the people for whom these acts are being committed.
Israel through its actions has made Israel a pariah. Multiple countries have withdrawn ambassadors. Over 140 nations, including Spain, Ireland, and Sweden, have recognized the State of Palestine. Indeed, with the exception of the United States, Israel’s actions have been criticized by every major country in the World. Israel has created its image as violent, intolerant, and cruel.
From its founding, Israel has attempted to combine the religion of Judaism with the State of Israel. Israel defines itself in its Basic Law as the “nation-state of the Jewish People.” Israeli leaders invariably declare Israel’s actions as necessary for security of Jews. However, formation of a Jewish state runs afoul of the Talmud. The Talmud, in Tractate Ketubot (111a), describes three oaths that God imposed on the world:
1. The Jewish people should not “ascend [to the Land of Israel] as a wall.” That is, the Jewish people should not immigrate en masse, and organize a conquering force.
2. That the Jewish people should not rebel against the nations of the world.
3. That the nations of the world should not oppress the Jewish people.
Political Zionism directly and flagrantly violates the first two oaths. Conflating the State of Israel with Judaism means implicating the entire religion in a foundational act of rebellion against God’s will and a violation of Talmudic law. The late Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, wrote extensively on this subject in his book Vayoel Moshe, which is the foundational text of Haredi anti-Zionism.
Jewish tradition holds that the final redemption and establishment of a Jewish commonwealth will be a divine, miraculous event presided over by the Messiah---not a series of endless wars aimed at expelling those whose families have inhabited the land for thousands of years. Israel’s action, taken in the name of Jewish people, violates sacred Jewish teachings. When Israel kills innocent civilians, commits collective punishment, destroy homes, starves children, and endlessly persecutes another group in the name of Jewish people, Israel brings God, the Torah, and the Jewish People into disrepute, and thereby desecrates God’s Name (Chilul Hashem). Zionism has created over 100 years of perpetual conflict that has led to massive loss of life. By doing so, Israel violates Pikuach Nefesh, the Jewish rule of preserving human life that overrides nearly all other commandments of the Torah. To conflate the sacred religion of Judaism with the political body of Israel profoundly misstates and violates the core tenets of Judaism.
Many Jewish people have sought to right this Israeli wrong. A growing and increasingly vocal number of Jewish people, both within Israel and outside of Israel, explicitly reject Israel as their representative. Groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Breaking the Silence describe Israel’s actions as immoral and protest this being done in their name. For Israel to define Jewish identity through its acts of international criminality constitutes a grave offense against the Jewish People. The Jewish People deserve better.
(J. George Mansour was born and raised in Missouri and has long been a student of political science and international relations. Mr. Mansour is now based in Austin Texas, where he remains an active investor in a variety of businesses.)
