More than 1,200 rabbis demand the end of the “massacres” in Gaza

The letter has been circulating for ten days and has already been signed online by more than 1,200 rabbis worldwide. “We cannot remain silent” and “we cannot tolerate the massacres of civilians, including a large number of women, children and elderly people, nor the use of famine as a weapon of war” say these Jewish religious leaders, urging Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to “respect all innocent lives”.

Most signatories are in the United States. But there are also several dozen in Israel and the text has collected the adhesion of rabbis worldwide, from the United Kingdom to Singapore, passing through South Africa, Australia, Brazil and many European countries, including Switzerland.

The text insists first of all on the attachment of rabbis to “well-being of Israel and the Jewish people”, their “unequivocal support for the legitimacy of the struggle of Israel” and their aversion of “violence of terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas”, to whom they ask to immediately release all hostages.

But, if they say they cry the loss of each Israeli soldier, they also say they can no longer be silent in the face of the current situation, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

“The massacre of a large number of Palestinians in Gaza, including those who were desperately looking for food, has been largely reported by the respectable media and cannot reasonably be denied,” they write. For signatories, “the severe restrictions imposed on humanitarian aid in Gaza and the policy of depriving the civilian population in the need for food, water and medical supplies are contrary to the fundamental values of Judaism as we understand them”.

The text also castigates “the behavior of groups of violent criminal settlers in the West Bank, often with the support of the police and the army”, also affirming that “the uninsured attacks, including the murders and the flights, against the Arab populations in the West Bank have been documented repeatedly”.

For these 1200 rabbis, the very foundations of their religion are threatened and, on behalf of the Jewish people, “victim many times of marginalization, persecution and attempted extermination” and “in the name of the moral reputation of Israel and Judaism itself”, they urge Benjamin Netanyahu to act immediately.

According to articles about this letter letter, Jewish religious leaders have supported many actions from Israel, notably since the response to the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 against Israel, which had resulted in nearly 1,200 people.

But many rabbis have a moral and ethical limit that they refuse to cross. And this limit is the humanitarian situation. The text addressed to Benjamin Netanyahu puts mainly emphasis on famine and deaths of civilians, not on war strictly speaking.