Speaking calmly on a cell phone from a darkened vehicle parked only two miles from the Lebanese border, Lt. Col. (Res.) Avital Leibovich urged leaders of the organized American Jewish community to recognize the gravity of the current situation in Israel and maintain steadfast support for the Jewish state in the challenging months ahead.
“We have been through numerous operations in Gaza. But this is not an operation; it’s a war,’ Leibovich said during an Oct. 8 webinar presented by the Jewish Federations of North America, the umbrella organization for the federations system. “This is unprecedented. Hundreds of terrorists have breached the Israeli border, simply to kidnap and murder as many Israelis as possible — women, children, the elderly, whole families.
“The numbers you’re hearing in the media are not the final numbers,” she warned. “The numbers, unfortunately, will increase.”
Leibovich, who is director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jerusalem office, was among the speakers on the webinar to offer updates of the crisis. Among the attendees were leaders of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
“Yesterday was one of the darkest days in Israeli history,” said JFNA Executive Vice President Shira Hutt. “It’s critical that we come together as a community with faith and determination and resilience, and we’re grateful to all of the partners that have joined us today.”
The webinar began with an emotional plea from an Israeli mother whose sons were taken hostage and are now held captive in Gaza. She described the utter chaos of terrorists breaking into her house while she was on the phone and taking away the young men.
“Please help me find my sons,” she said, tearfully. “They’re just kids. These are terrorists. They have no morals. … Help me find my sons and return them home as soon as possible.”
During her talk, Leibovich, who was recently called up to her reserve unit, said that Iran is “pulling the strings” behind the Hamas attack.
“There are still six communities in Israel with live fire exchange on the ground,” she said. “[Hamas] is terribly well-trained and well-equipped, and remember that Hamas operates in countries other than Gaza.”
She described the mood in Israel as rife with uncertainty, especially regarding the sporadic barrage of missiles coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s premature to discuss hostage situations and prisoner exchanges right now,” she said. “We’re living in an emergency situation. Hundreds of families are searching for their loved ones. … Israel realizes it has a lot of support from the international community, particularly the United States. Thank you so much for your support for the Israeli people.”
In her update, Hadassah CEO and executive director Naomi Adler said that organization’s medical centers are treating the most serious cases from the conflict, particularly from central Israel. At this time, she said Hadassah does not yet need volunteer staff as reinforcements, but that could change in the weeks and months ahead.
Adler noted that one of the patients treated at Hadassah Medical Center is a “lone soldier” from Houston who was shot in the face by a terrorist and so far has required three surgeries. (“Lone soldiers” are more than 7,000 members of the Israel Defense Forces who do not have family members in Israel.)
“Most patients came from airlifts or transports,” she said. “Overall, the situation is stable. Nurses and doctors are working incredibly hard around the clock, and many have not yet gone home. Every ward is fully staffed.”
Veteran Israeli journalist and author Yaakov Katz characterized the country right now as engulfed in “surreal reality.”
“Stores are closed, streets are empty, schools are shut. People are afraid to go outside,” he said. “Meanwhile, there’s a feeling that something even worse seems to be around the corner. We’re in that moment of the fog of war. Nothing is clear, and no one in the government seems to be really talking to the people and giving us clarity. I’m not talking about hasbarah [public relations], but clarity about the situation.
“How did Israel, with all of its amazing intelligence agencies renowned throughout the world, fail to learn that thousands of terrorists were at the border? How did the sophisticated defense mechanisms not work?”
The country’s immediate objectives, Katz said, are to clean out the remaining terrorists operating within the borders, call up reserve units and prepare for a ground offensive into Gaza.
“We need to ensure all of this can be contained first, and then next is the hostages,” he said. “We know what Hamas does to hostages. This is something that will rip out our country’s heart. This will take weeks months, and maybe years.”
Katz, who is former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, compared the Hamas invasion to Pearl Harbor. “We knew for years what was going on in Gaza,” he said. “But we can’t just go back to a scenario of containment. Israel has to flip the equation.”
The tragedy of the Hamas attack impacts each and every Israeli, Katz emphasized. “No Israeli today doesn’t know someone who was either killed, wounded or abducted,” he said “No one is immune. That’s why there is such a paralyzing feeling in the country today.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, spoke about the international community’s response to Israel’s plight in the wake of the attack.
“The response has been overwhelmingly supportive of Israel’s absolute right to defend itself. That hasn’t always been the case,” said Deutch, a former congressman from Florida. “But we need officials to recognize the barbarity and brutality here. This was a pogrom, a massacre of a Jewish community.”
Deutch said public support for Israel will likely diminish in the weeks and months to come, especially in light of actions required to dismantle Hamas in Gaza.
“We have already seen some voices out there trying to blame Israel,” he said. “We need broad and unequivocal support for Israel in the months to come. There will be dark days ahead, and the community in Israel needs to feel our love and support. The global Jewish community has to stand with Israel. We can’t overstate the importance of individuals voicing their support right now.”
In particular, he said supporters of Israel need to consistently reach out to federal, state and local elected officials to help them “understand the truth in this situation. This is a moment that requires unity in our community.”
JFNA President and CEO Eric Fingerhut encouraged Israel’s supporters to contact friends and family living in the Jewish state to express their concern and support. Financial support for “tzedakah and resources” will also be essential in the days ahead, he said.
In addition, Fingerhut said members of Jewish communities will need to reach out to their non-Jewish counterparts “and explain why this horrendous, terrible attack is an afront to the civilized world. This is not a military battle, but a terrorist organization that seized control of Gaza and will need to be dislodged. We can explain this and stay in contact with people. Our communities will be a microcosm of how our nation responds to support Israel to this existential challenge.”
Author and scholar Rabbi David J. Wolpe concluded the webinar by calling on attendees to pray for Israel, always remember what happened on the weekend of Oct. 7 and and not let the world forget, while demonstrating solidarity with the people of Israel.
“This is a wound that will not heal anytime soon,” he said. “We can’t let the world forget the inhumanity and barbarity of Israel’s enemies. We must be witnesses and give testimony.”
For information about The Associated’s emergency fund for Israel, visit payments.associated.org/IsraelAttacked
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