OPINION:
It’s never easy to leave home especially not when home is Israel, and home is a country at war. Maybe it sounds strange to leave a place that seems so unsafe. Still, Israel is where I belong, not just because my entire immediate family is there, but because living there is the fulfillment of God’s promise by living in the land deeded by God to the people of Israel through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When I leave, I leave part of my heart behind.
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In nearly 11 months since the inhuman Oct. 7, 2023 massacre by Hamas terrorists, where 1,200 people were slaughtered, raped, sexually mutilated, beheaded, and burned alive; where parents were murdered in front of their children and children in front of their parents and where 250 innocents were kidnapped, Israel has existed in a prolonged state of trauma that has not ended. This weekend that trauma is profound with the recovery of six hostages that terrorists executed. And today, the need has never been greater to send your support and condolences to their families.
Departing Ben Gurion airport, one walks by the pictures of the remaining hostages in captivity in Gaza. When I left, there were 109. Then Israel rescued an Israeli Bedouin Arab Muslim who had been held and abused in captivity since Oct. 7. There were 108 remaining. Before I went to sleep Saturday night in America, I read news of Israel rescuing the bodies of six more hostages, though their names had not yet been released.
It was hard to go to sleep realizing that, at home, 108 families could not sleep, not knowing if the latest hostages’ bodies recovered were their loved ones. As much as it added to my stress, I knew their stress was unimaginably greater. Waking up to discover the hostages’ names, I cried.
I grew angry as I read reports that the six hostages were murdered as IDF troops drew close to where they were being held in captivity. One report indicated that they were alive long enough that they probably heard the IDF troops in the area. Not even animals behave this way to other animals. The cruelty of these Iranian-backed Islamic terrorists is inhuman and demonic.
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CNN and others added to the cruelty, noting that the hostages had “died,” passively, as if it were something natural, not at the hands of Islamic terrorist executioners.
Had it not been for this horrific news, you may have heard of two other terrorist attacks that took place in the Judean mountains where I live but never made it to the headlines. Friday night, before I went to sleep, I read of a terrorist attack at a gas station in my neighborhood at the Gush Etzion junction. A terrorist detonated an explosive at the gas station where I had just sent my son to fill up the car days ago and then a second attack targeted the soldiers who responded.
Then Sunday morning, a few miles from there at the Tarqumiyah junction, three police officers were killed in a terrorist shooting attack.
When the U.S. and other political leaders talk about “getting a deal done” and the imperative for a “ceasefire” they may have good intentions, but they are naïve at best and grossly mistaken at worst. A ceasefire will not bring peace. A ceasefire puts Israel in the position of holding off on the essential need to defeat Hamas militarily. A ceasefire simply allows the terrorists to regroup, and rearm. To fortify positions against IDF troops trying to rescue the hostages, and to hide the remaining hostages deeper in the network of remaining terrorist tunnels. Or to execute them outright as they ostensibly “negotiate” toward a “hostage deal” and an alleged “ceasefire.”
Ultimately actual peace in Gaza is not going to come from making a “deal” but a sweeping victory that crushes the terrorists and their infrastructure, eliminates the bigger threat from the Iranian Islamic regime supporting the terrorists, and defeats their ideology as planned by the solution for peace in Gaza.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, the Genesis 123 Foundation launched the Israel Emergency Campaign to provide support for Israelis impacted by the war in many ways. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, we have comforted families of victims in Israel, Africa, and around the world; advocated for those in captivity with the petition to release the hostages; cared for families evacuated from hostile and dangerous border areas; provided civilian security resources for civilian security teams; life-saving aid for first responders; showed long and support to soldiers with hot meals in the winter and cold drinks and watermelon in the summer; and many forms of advocacy to get the truth out about the reality of the situation in Israel and the war against Hamas.
The trauma is deep and ongoing. There’s been no respite for the families of the victims or the hostages, and not for Israel on the whole. Today, our imperative is to comfort the families with a global outreach of support and prayers.
As the families of murdered hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27 grieve, along with the families of police officers Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, (whose daughter was murdered on Oct. 7), please take a moment to send your words of condolences, prayers, and comfort that the Genesis 123 Foundation will deliver on your behalf.
In the past, we have asked you to support a specific project that’s been essential to provide a meaningful and tangible need. Today, any donation will continue that support, and with that, allow you to send your comfort and support to the grieving families.
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Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has become a respected bridge between Jews and Christians and serves as president of the Genesis 123 Foundation (www.Genesis123.co). He writes regularly about Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He is host of the popular Inspiration from Zion podcast and publisher of www.IsraeltheMiracle.com. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.
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