Opinion

The massacre that took place on October 7 will never be forgotten. It has been forever seared into the heart and soul of every Jew. It is now a strong part of our DNA, and will anguish us and at the same time guide us for generations to come. 

On September 15, Israel and America celebrated the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords. I personally was working with both American and Israeli officials on celebrating in Israel the unprecedented agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. The actual event was supposed to take place this week.

Ever since Rashida Tlaib was elected to Congress in 2019 from Michigan, she has been the most vocal critic of Israel and tireless supporter of the BDS Movement, which is considered anti-Semitic. After four years of anti-Israel rhetoric and anti-Semitic statements, Congress finally voted to censure her on November 7, by a vote of 234 to 188.

After the horrific slaughter of innocent civilians by Hamas on our Holy Sabbath and holiday, it is not enough to crush them. It is time to discuss re-establishing the 22 Jewish communities that were expelled in 2005. Had these towns not been “disengaged,” the situation would be vastly different. They were the frontlines protecting the South. They were strategically set up to act as a buffer zone to prevent the barbaric and depraved assault we all have witnessed. They were better fortified and better equipped than the towns struck on Simchat Torah. With the expulsion of 10,000 Jews from Gush Katif in 2005, Hamas got that much closer to large population centers. There was relative calm in the South of Israel for the 30-plus years the 22 Jewish communities existed there.

Iran should remain the focus of Hamas’ October 7 massacre. All roads lead back to Iran, the chief state sponsor of terrorism in the world today. Although there are many differences in the hostage-taking of over 230 men, women, and children by Hamas and the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979, Iran made abduction and kidnapping a centerpiece of their operations.

The world has witnessed one of the most barbaric, monstrous, and depraved pogroms of all time on Israel’s Sabbath and Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah holiday, carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The death toll continues to rise. It is estimated to be 700 at this time, with over 100 taken captive. Fifteen hundred were injured, and many are critical. Babies were killed in front of their parents and parents were killed in front of their children. There was no end to the atrocities committed by these terrorists.