Modern Israel celebrates its 73rd birthday this week. Let me put my cards on the table. I’m not dispassionate when it comes to the country. It is an unparalleled tale of tenacity and determination, of courage and renewal.
In recent days, as we saw the terrible pictures of the tragedy in Mt. Meron, we heard a lot about “Bnei Chul,” Diaspora Jews who came to Israel to study in yeshivas and perished in the disaster. Each and every one of them opens a window for us, the Israelis, to the Jewish communities around the world.
As sirens blared across the country and civilians sought shelter, American Jewish Committee (AJC) called on the U.S. and other governments to condemn the rocket barrage directed against Israeli cities and towns today from Hamas-ruled Gaza – the latest unprovoked violence unleashed against the Jewish state.
Hamas has territorial ambitions on Israel. In fact, that's putting it mildly: It would like to replace Israel in its entirety with a Muslim Brotherhood-ruled, Sharia-based state. Israel has no territorial ambitions on Hamas-ruled Gaza. To the contrary, Israel left it totally in 2005 to govern itself, something previous rulers, including Egypt and Ottoman Turkey, never remotely did. Israel hoped never to return.