US
Rabbis Support Israel, Explain 1967 Border Security Dangers
Rabbi Glickman:
"Both US Right and Left Wing Rabbis
support Israel's right to defensible borders."
By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem
---- May 21, 2011 ...... Somewhere deep within the green, tranquil
American heartland, US Rabbis are responding to the speech of
US President Barack Obama calling on Israel to accept the dangerous
and lethal pre-war borders of 1967. Borders which are not defensible
against Islamic terror attacks and Arab armies seeking war with
Israel. That enemy combat jets would take a mere 4 minutes to
reach Tel Aviv, that terror missiles could be placed feet away
from Ben-Gurion Airport.
Rabbi
Jeffrey Glickman of Temple
Beth Hillel took the time to provide an enlightening sermon
following Friday night Shabbat services. He didn't need to. He
could have discussed local politics, upcoming Bar Mitzvahs or
the meaning of some abstract chapter in the Torah.
But
Rabbi Glickman knew, as many other Rabbis in the US, that something
was now very wrong. That beyond the comfort zone of his congregation
that the Jews of Israel could face another Holocaust if they were
forced to live without defensible borders, something that was
promised to them by the UN after the 1967 war.
What
do the Jews of Connecticut, Ohio, Oregon and California know about
the daily terror rocket attacks that come from Hamas in Gaza or
Hezbollah in Lebanon? Why should these Jews even care, when its
easier to focus on going shopping, taking a vacation in Jamaica,
finding a good cup of Starbucks coffee, enjoying a local bowling
alley or simply watching American Idol on TV.
Do
these Jews know that the lives of their brothers and sisters living
in Israel are today at greater risk as a result of President Barack
Obama appeasing Arab oil interests in the Middle East?
"The
Torah portion, Bechukotai, speaks about vows and redeeming the
land of Israel. That is exactly what is happening in the news
today," said Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman.
"The
vow that America has made to support the very land of Israel is
being discussed on the highest levels of our government. I am
not going to tell you how to vote, but I am going to explain the
words that are used, so that you can understand what is being
talked about. I will quote leaders of our people whose opinions
I value."
Glickman continues:
"First, understand how Israel fits into a map of Arab states
in the region."
The Rabbi
then steps off stage and hands out maps of the Middle East.
One map illustrates
small Israel. Another which compares Israel to California.
"Israel
is comparable to the size of our state, Connecticut. There are
about 100 Arabs to every Jew in this world. Similarly, 100
Muslims and 100 Christians for every Jew. There arent very
many of us. If we were five times larger, we would make up one
percent of the world."
"First
of all, Obamas words did not deviate, in substance, from
the stance of the past presidents of the United States. He did,
however,
use the term 1967 Borders, as a guide for the borders
between a Palestinian nation and Israel. This was unfortunate."
The Rabbi
then hands out more maps showing the pre-1967 borders of Israel,
and how vulnerable Israel is.
"At only
9 miles wide, that is the distance from here to Hartford,"
says Rabbi Glickman.
"Here are some quotes from a speech by Israel Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu which he recently gave at the United Nations:
'For the first
time in two thousand years, a sovereign Jewish people could defend
itself against attack. Before that, we were subjected to unremitting
savagery: the bloodletting of the Middle Ages, the expulsion of
the Jews from England, Spain and Portugal, the wholesale slaughter
of the Jews of
the Ukraine, the pogroms in Russia, culminating in the greatest
evil of all - the Holocaust.
The founding
of Israel did not stop the attacks on the Jews. It merely gave
the Jews the power to defend themselves against those attacks.
When Egypt
and Jordan recognized that we could not be defeated in battle,
they embraced the path of peace.
Yet there
are those who continue the assault against the Jewish state and
who openly call for our destruction. They seek to achieve this
goal through terrorism, missile attacks and most recently by developing
atomic weapons.
Iran's rulers
say "Israel is a one bomb country." The head of Hezbollah
says: "If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us
the trouble of going after them worldwide."
Jerusalem
is not a settlement. It is our capital. In Jerusalem, my government
has maintained the policies of all Israel governments since 1967,
including those led by Golda Meir, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak
Rabin.'
Today, nearly
a quarter of a million Jews, almost half the city's Jewish population,
live in neighborhoods that are just beyond the 1949 armistice
lines.
All these
neighborhoods are within a five-minute drive from the Knesset.'
Rabbi Glickman
then quotes Netanyahu one more time.
'But one thing
I will never compromise on is our security.'
Glickman smiles
at his congregants and states: "It is hard to explain Israel's
security predicament to someone living in a country 500 times
the size of Israel. But imagine the entire United States compressed
to the size of New Jersey."
"Next,
put on New Jersey's northern border an Iranian terror proxy called
Hezbollah which fires 6,000 rockets into that small state. Then
imagine that this terror proxy has amassed 60,000 more missiles
to fire at you.
Wait. I'm
not finished. Now imagine on New Jersey's southern border another
Iran terror proxy called Hamas.
It too fires
6,000 rockets into your territory while smuggling even more lethal
weapons into its territory."
Rabbi Glickman
asks: "Do you think you would feel a little bit vulnerable?
Do you think you would expect some understanding from the international
community when you try to defend yourselves?"
"I
am not telling you how to vote, but telling you that you
have a voice. It is important that you know what is going
on, and that you voice an educated opinion. It is a noble
obligation, especially at this critical time."
-
Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman
Rabbi Glickman
adds: "A peace agreement with the Palestinians must include
effective security arrangements on the ground.
I am confident
that in pursuing these goals, we have the enduring friendship
of the United States of America, the greatest nation on earth.
The American
people have always shown their courage, their generosity and their
decency. From one President to the next, from one Congress to
the next, America's commitment to Israel's security has been unwavering.
In the last
year, President Obama and the U.S. Congress have given meaning
to that commitment by providing Israel with military
assistance, by enabling joint military exercises and by working
on joint missile defense.
So too, Israel
has been a staunch and steadfast ally of the United States.
As Vice President
Biden said, America has no better friend in the community of nations
than Israel.
For decades,
Israel served as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism.
Today it is helping America stem the tide of militant Islam."
Rabbi Glickman continues: "Militant Islam does not hate the
West because of Israel. It hates Israel because of the West. Because
it sees Israel as an outpost of freedom and democracy that prevents
them from overrunning the Middle East.
That is why
when Israel stands against its enemies, it stands against America's
enemies.
Rabbi Glickman
then quotes the leader of the US Jewish Reform movement, Rabbi
Eric Yoffie.
"Let's
begin with the left - the camp with which I identify. On the left,
I would argue that we assumed that the Palestinian extremism would
give way to Palestinian moderation and that voices of sanity would
predominate on the Palestinian side. It didn't happen.
"Abbas is a basically reasonable man surrounded by mostly
unreasonable voices, with Hamas now part of the mix. The Palestinians
do not seem ready for peace at all.
On the left
we assumed that if only the Israelis were to take one big step
for peace, the Palestinians would respond. It didn't happen.
Israel took many such steps - Oslo, for example - but the breakthrough
never came.
On the left
we assumed that in the post-Holocaust era, the international community
could be counted on to protest vigorously when missiles rained
down on Israel citizens and to judge Israel and the Palestinians
by a single standard. It didn't happen.
We remember
Sderot and Goldstone.
On the left
we assumed that if Israel built a security fence, it would generate
calm and set the stage for political progress. The fence was
built and it did far more good than harm, but it did not bring
peace.
But, in my
opinion, the record of the right is no better.
On the right,
I argue that it was assumed that Israel could proclaim its support
for a Palestinian state alongside Israel while taking actions
- especially settlement building outside the major settlement
blocks - that specifically undermine its stated intention. The
result: widespread skepticism that Israel means what it says.
On the right
it was assumed that Israel could trumpet its democratic values
while leaving vague the question of how Israel was to remain both
a democratic and a Jewish state. It didn't work. Israel's friends,
Jews everywhere, and Israelis themselves are no longer satisfied
with ambiguity on a question so fundamental.
On the right
it was assumed that a hostile world could be ignored and unquestioning
American support could always be taken for granted. This was always
foolish; support for Israel is precious and vital, and must be
carefully cultivated and won.
On the right
it was assumed that the support of Evangelicals in the United
States was an acceptable substitute for support across the political
spectrum that Israel had always enjoyed. Such a view, in my opinion,
is a disaster; broad, inclusive, bipartisan political support
has always been the premise of pro-Israel advocacy in the United
States, and it must remain so.
Is this a
time for despair?
Not at all.
There are many things that Israel can do, including taking steps
to separate from the Palestinians and making clear that its support
for a Palestinian state is real and not rhetorical. But this will
require humility from Israel's right and left, a willingness to
work together in a time of crisis, and a frank recognition by
both sides that its most cherished assumptions have been fatally
flawed."
Rabbi Glickman
concludes: "I am not telling you how to vote, but telling
you that you have a voice. It is important that you know what
is going on, and that you voice an educated opinion. It is a noble
obligation, especially at this critical time."