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‘Awakening of unity’: Hamas attack, war spark outpouring of support for Israel in haredi communities
(New York Jewish Week) –When 3,000 Orthodox men packed into a New Jersey event hall late last month to mark a milestone in their 7 1/2-year cycle of Talmud study, they added an unusual component to the celebration.
In addition to sermons from prominent rabbis and collective prayer and study, the men watched videos showing uniformed Israel Defense Forces soldiers studying, singing, dancing with haredi Orthodox men and visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
“It was a remarkable evening and an expression of solidarity with the soldiers of the IDF, and with the people in Israel who are feeling besieged and of course those who have been taken hostage,” Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, the haredi umbrella group that organized the event, told the New York Jewish Week.
What was remarkable was the public celebration of Israel’s soldiers at the event. Haredi movements have a range of approaches to Israel and Zionism. Some believe a Jewish state should be established only with the coming of the Messiah, while others are ambivalent and still others vocally supportive of Israel.
But regardless of their attitude toward the state, haredi leaders in New York City emphasize that their communities have a deep affinity for the land of Israel and its Jewish residents, no matter their politics or religious observance. After Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, they say that feeling has sparked an outpouring of support for Israel and its military at a level not seen in decades and — in at least one instance — active disavowal of an anti-Zionist protest group.
“The outrage and sheer brutality of the October 7th attacks has united the Jewish community in common cause in a way I personally have never seen before,” said Chaskel Bennett, a community leader and the co-founder of the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition who was a pro-Israel activist prior to Oct. 7. “The Orthodox Jewish community always pulled together in times of crisis, but October 7th has touched a raw emotional nerve that has transformed how Jews identify and connect with their brethren in Israel in an unprecedented way.”
Haredi groups in New York do not typically hold organized street rallies, as some Jewish groups have done in recent weeks, but haredi communities have mobilized in their own ways, including by focusing on the traditional practices of prayer and charity.
“In virtually every synagogue people stay a few minutes later beyond the usual closing time of the prayer service and they recite psalms that are appropriate for the situation,” Zwiebel said.
Religious Jews at the March for Israel on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on November 14, 2023. (Luke Tress)
In the days after Oct. 7, thousands of haredi Jews poured into the streets in Brooklyn’s Borough Park and Crown Heights in spontaneous gatherings to pray and show support for Israelis. In the weeks since, haredi communities in New York have collected supplies for the Israeli military, held vigils for hostages held by Hamas, flown the Israeli flag at events, demonstrated support for secular Jewish college students and organized prayers for the terror group’s victims. Several Hharedi groups, including Agudath Israel, attended a mass demonstration in support of Israel last week, alongside crowds of non-Orthodox Jews.
Haredi websites are raising funds, messages of mourning for fallen troops are spreading across haredi WhatsApp groups and haredi news outlets closely track the fighting in Gaza. In one widely shared clip, a large Israeli flag was hoisted above the crowd at a Hasidic wedding.
“The realization of brotherhood and sisterhood is really displayed in a way that I’ve never seen in my lifetime,” said Avi Greenstein, CEO of the Boro Park Jewish Community Council, a social services organization in the heavily haredi Brooklyn neighborhood, calling the moment an “awakening of unity.”
Even haredi opponents of Zionism have taken steps to disavow anti-Israel activism. A leader of the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic movement, Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, decried the fringe Naturei Karta group for joining anti-Israel demonstrations, accusing the faction of supporting “haters of Israel and murderers.” Satmar rabbis have also pushed back against growing affinity for Israel and the IDF, however.
Religious events have shifted to focus on Israel, including Chabad-Lubavitch’s annual conference of thousands of male emissaries. A rabbi affiliated with Chabad, which often responds to crises by encouraging Jews to perform traditional rituals, is sending ritual fringes traditionally worn by Orthodox Jewish men to the front lines. The movement, which is more outwardly supportive of Israel, has been distributing charity to Israelis in need, and some members of its New York community are IDF veterans who rushed back to their units after the war broke out. At least one soldier from the movement was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.
In another event late last month, neighborhood organizers in Crown Heights, Chabad’s Brooklyn home base, set up an empty Shabbat table with 230 seats to symbolize the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The event was organized to counter a rally led by hardline pro-Palestinian groups the following day, and drew around 1,200 participants.
The Chabad conference annual gala, in Edison, New Jersey, November 12, 2023. (Luke Tress)
“We prayed, we sang, we cried and we stood in solidarity with both the hostages, the Israeli public and the IDF,” said Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, the president of the Jewish Future Alliance, a community advocacy group. Chabad has also held prayers with families of hostages at the grave of its former leader, the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and at the movement’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway.
The IDF is a largely secular institution, and Israel’s haredi men are mostly exempt from the country’s mandatory draft, a policy that has long caused friction in the country’s society and politics. But the outpouring of support for the military in the U.S. mirrors developments inside Israel, where thousands of haredim have enlisted in recent weeks and volunteers have provided meals and prayed with troops. A video showed dozens of haredim dancing in a city square after a female Israeli soldier was rescued from Hamas captivity.
A journalist for a haredi news outlet, Yanki Farber, shared the video on X, writing, “My son asked me right now why I’m crying.”
“Hasidim are dancing in the streets of Ashkelon after the release of a female soldier. I didn’t see anything like this when Gilad Shalit was released,” he wrote, referring to the Israeli soldier freed in a deal with Hamas in 2011. “There is an incredible sense of understanding among all of us that we must not return to being divided.”
The cross-community solidarity in Israel feeds back into the United States, Zwiebel said.
“Attitudes that are developed in Israel proper will have an impact on the broader international Jewish community,” he said. “We’re all in this together and that’s certainly being felt in Israel and yes I think there is some spillover and some sense of greater solidarity here in America.”
The surge in antisemitism in the U.S. has also spurred greater haredi solidarity with non-haredi Jewish communities. In an unusual message late last month, Agudath Israel issued a call to support Jewish college students as antisemitism and anti-Israel activism roiled U.S. campuses. The Chabad movement has a presence on hundreds of U.S. campuses and has also played a central role in supporting students.
“There are Orthodox Jews in the colleges, but if you’re not Orthodox, there are Jews in colleges and we care deeply about them,” Zwiebel said.
Despite the outpouring of support, the conversation about Zionism among haredim has not undergone a sea change, Zwiebel said. But he said antisemitism is leading some families to consider Israel as a future home.
“The hostility that we’re facing here in the United States, or even more so in Europe, is that reminding us that these are not necessarily ideal long-term homes for the Jewish people?” he said. “That kind of conversation is taking place. It’s taking place in homes where parents have sent their children to study in Israel and are wondering, ‘Should we bring them back? Should we let them stay there?’”
Several haredi community members said they hoped that the feeling of solidarity would last after the war ends.
“It took a vicious attack by merciless enemies to somehow bring people together,” Zwiebel said. “If we’re looking for a silver lining in this terrible cloud, I guess that would be it. If only we can keep this going beyond this war.”
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The post ‘Awakening of unity’: Hamas attack, war spark outpouring of support for Israel in haredi communities appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Refuses to Blame Hezbollah for Attacking Peacekeepers in Lebanon
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles drive in Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
The United Nations announced on Tuesday that four Ghanaian peacekeepers were wounded “most likely by non-state actors within Lebanon,” noticeably omitting any reference to the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, which wields significant influence across the country and was identified by Israeli forces as responsible for the rocket attack.
“Four Ghanaian peacekeepers on duty sustained injuries as a rocket — fired most likely by non-State actors within Lebanon — hit their base ‘UNP 5-42’ in the east of the village of Ramyah,” the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement.
The UN force added that its “peacekeepers and facilities were targeted in three separate incidents in south Lebanon.” The attacks were so severe that three peacekeepers were transferred to a local hospital, UNIFIL noted.
The peacekeeping mission added that its “Sector West Headquarters” in the southern Lebanese village of Shama also endured an attack from several rockets on Tuesday, adding that no peacekeepers were physically harmed.
UNIFIL claimed that one of its bases has been targeted by so-called “non-state actors” twice over the past week. In addition, the international force said that “when a UNIFIL patrol was passing through a road northeast of the village of Khirbat Silim, an armed person directly fired at the patrol”
“The pattern of regular attacks — direct or indirect — against peacekeepers must end immediately,” UNIFIL concluded.
The UN force’s apparent refusal to name Hezbollah received widespread scrutiny on social media, where many users noted that the Iran-backed terrorist organization has been involved in active combat near UNIFIL facilities and is by far the most powerful and widespread non-state actor in Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that Hezbollah was responsible for the rocket attacks on both Ramyah and Shama.
According to the IDF, the UNIFIL base in Shama, was hit by several rockets launched by Hezbollah from the Maaliyeh area. A source from Italy’s defense ministry told AFP that “Hezbollah was responsible for the attack,” which involved eight rockets hitting the headquarters of the Italian contingent of UNIFL. No injuries were reported.
Last month, the IDF said that Hezbollah had fired dozens of rockets and missiles at Israeli communities and forces from terrorist compounds embedded near UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials have repeatedly warned UN peacekeepers that Hezbollah is weaponizing their presence in the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s war against the Jewish state, using them as human shields.
Despite its omission of Hezbollah, UNIFIL has not shied away from calling out Israel for allegedly attacking peacekeepers in the region.
In an October statement bemoaning “escalation” of violence in southern Lebanon, the UN force stated that “rockets continue to be launched towards Israel” without naming Hezbollah, which has been targeting northern Israel with barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones for the past year. However, in the next sentence, UNIFIL blasted “incursions from Israel into Lebanon.” The mission also condemned the IDF for allegedly firing “its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters.”
Israeli officials have long accused the UN more broadly of having a bias against the Jewish state. Last year, the UN General Assembly condemned Israel twice as often as it did all other countries. Meanwhile, of all the country-specific resolutions passed by the UNHRC, nearly half have condemned Israel, a seemingly disproportionate focus on the lone democracy in the Middle East.
Weeks following last year’s Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the UN adopted a resolution calling for a “ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. The UN failed to pass a measure condemning the Hamas atrocities.
On Tuesday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric de la Rivière refused to assign blame to any party for allegedly ransacking and looting 90 humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza. Hamas, which rules Gaza, has a long history of stealing humanitarian aid intended for the civilians of the beleaguered enclave, although it’s unclear who was responsible for the recent looting.
“When people, when armed people, try to take over control of a vehicle and goods, we’re not asking questions and they’re not wearing insignias,” he said to reporters.
The spokesperson added that the UN will not accept any security from Israel, stating that its employees would be “an even greater target if we were surrounded by armed soldiers.” Nonetheless, he insisted that the Jewish state still “has a responsibility” to ensure that the UN’s workers and humanitarian aid are safe.
The post UN Refuses to Blame Hezbollah for Attacking Peacekeepers in Lebanon first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu, in Gaza, Vows Retribution for Those Who Harm Hostages, Offers Safe Passage and Reward for Info
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a memorial ceremony for those murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and those who fell in the “Iron Sword” war, at the Knesset, the Parliament, in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2024. Photo: DEBBIE HILL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed during a trip to Gaza on Tuesday to “hunt down” terrorists who harmed the hostages being held in the Palestinian enclave, offering a hefty financial reward and safe passage for anyone willing to provide information leading to an abductee’s return.
“To those who are holding our hostages: Anyone who dares to harm our hostages will have blood on their head. We will hunt you down and get you,” Netanyahu said in a video in Hebrew recorded on Gaza’s beach along the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the Israeli premier added, “whoever brings us a hostage will be given a safe way, for him and his family, to leave. We will also give a reward of $5 million for each kidnapped person. You choose — the choice is yours — but the result will be the same. We’ll get them all back.”
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו ושר הביטחון ישראל כ”ץ, יחד עם הרמטכ”ל רב אלוף הרצי הלוי וראש השב”כ רונן בר ביקרו היום מסדרון נצרים שבעזה.
ראש הממשלה נתניהו: “החמאס לא יהיה יותר בעזה. מי שיעז לפגוע בחטופינו – דמו בראשו. נרדוף ונשיג אתכם.” pic.twitter.com/EwFB2hd9aE
— ראש ממשלת ישראל (@IsraeliPM_heb) November 19, 2024
Netanyahu made the comments during a visit to the Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza between north and south, along with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Ronen Bar.
“Hamas will no longer be in Gaza,” Netanyahu said, vowing that the Palestinian terrorist group that had ruled Gaza won’t have a future role governing the enclave, which borders southern Israel. He added that Israel had destroyed the Islamist group’s military capabilities.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists launched the ongoing war with their invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. During the onslaught, the terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped over 250 hostages while perpetrating mass sexual violence against the Israeli people.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Katz said on Tuesday that the return of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas terrorists remains the “most important mission,” promising that Israel will “complete its mission” in Gaza.
“We need to make sure that Hamas does not rule here ‘the day after,’” he added.
On Monday, Netanyahu reportedly told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of Israeli’s parliament, known as the Knesset, that he believes about 50 of the 101 remaining hostages in Gaza are still alive.
The remarks came after Netanyahu on Sunday called an emergency meeting following Hamas’s rejection of all proposals for ceasefires and hostage release deals currently on the table, according to Israel’s Channel 13 News.
Hamas’s leadership has severed all contact with those actually holding the hostages for security reasons “to protect the important negotiation card,” the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reported this week, citing a Hamas source.
Talks over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar have floundered in recent weeks, with American officials questioning whether Hamas wants an agreement. The terrorist group has insisted any arrangement must include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an outcome that Jerusalem firmly opposes until its war goals are achieved.
The post Netanyahu, in Gaza, Vows Retribution for Those Who Harm Hostages, Offers Safe Passage and Reward for Info first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Operations in Lebanon Enabling Steps to Return Displaced Citizens to Their Homes: Think Tanks
Smoke billows over Khiam, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, Oct. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
Israel’s expanded military operations against the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon have enabled Jerusalem to take steps to return displaced Israeli citizens to their homes in the northern part of the country, according to researchers at two leading US think tanks.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in conjunction with the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (CTP), explained the developments on Sunday in their daily Iran Update, “which provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests.”
According to the report, “Israeli Army Radio reported that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has removed all military checkpoints and roadblocks on roads near the Israel-Lebanon border that have been closed to civilians over the past year.”
This was able to happen because of Israeli operations in Lebanon that have reduced the threat of anti-tank fire and other munitions targeting northern Israel.
“The IDF’s re-opening of roads along the border,” ISW and CTP explained, “indicates that the IDF has assessed that Israeli operations have significantly reduced the threat of anti-tank fire and other short-range munitions enough to allow civilians to return to previously targeted areas.”
Specifically, it has been Israel’s ground operations in Lebanon, and “control of Lebanese territory” that have led to these steps, according to an IDF official who spoke to Israeli Army Radio.
In mid-September, the Israeli war cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning tens of thousands of Israeli citizens to their homes in the north after they were forced to flee amid unrelenting fire from Hezbollah in neighboring southern Lebanon.
“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at the time. “Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah joined Hamas’s war on Israel, pummeling northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles from southern Lebanon, where it wields significant political and military influence. One such attack killed 12 children in the small Druze town of Majdal Shams.
About 70,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate Israel’s north during that time due to the unrelenting attacks. Most of them have spent the past 13 months living in hotels in other areas of the country.
Since Israel began its widened campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, it has achieved major successes. It has taken out the entire top echelon of Hezbollah, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah, along with his successor. This, along with other successful operations, has put significant pressure on Hezbollah to come to a diplomatic agreement to end hostilities — which could happen in the coming weeks.
The post Israel’s Operations in Lebanon Enabling Steps to Return Displaced Citizens to Their Homes: Think Tanks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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