Monday night, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) began a series of attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza. This military operation stimulates different reactions. For some, this is seen as the next necessary stage in the war to rid Gaza of Hamas and return the hostages. Others believe the hostages will be in greater harm. “We must stop the fighting and bring everyone home,” said Yarden Bibas, a released hostage whose wife and two young children were killed by Hamas in captivity. There are those who see this as bringing more destruction and civilian casualties to Gaza. And others see this as Prime Minister Netanyahu shoring up his coalition in advance of the March 31 deadline to pass a budget in the Knesset. If Netanyahu falls short of the 61 votes he needs, elections will automatically be triggered. Add to that the upheaval from his efforts to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. (Interestingly, 59% of Israelis support the resumption of attacks on Hamas.)

The IDF spokesperson explained why Israel began this campaign:

“Fifty-nine hostages remain in Hamas captivity. These hostages were brutally abducted on October 7, 2023, and have now suffered more than 530 days in Hamas’ inhumane captivity. The stories of returned hostages that have been shared with the world should echo in the minds of every decent human being. Their testimonies prove the atrocities they went through and provide an insight into the horrors that the remaining hostages are facing right now. And yet, Hamas continues to refuse to release all our hostages. 

These were the decisions made by Hamas -- a genocidal terror organization built on the premise of the destruction of Israel. It could have chosen a different path. It could have chosen to release all the hostages but instead chose refusal, terror, and war.”

(FYI -- Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin, the imam who founded Hamas in 1987, was assassinated 21 years ago today.)

The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg proposes that the collapse of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire was inevitable due to the incompatible end goals of Israel and Hamas -- the elimination of the other. “But setting aside the interests and intentions of Hamas, Netanyahu, and Trump, the Gaza cease-fire was never going to hold for a more fundamental reason: Neither side is willing to tolerate the other’s continued existence. Hamas is sworn to Israel’s destruction. For decades, the terrorist group has plundered Gaza and sacrificed its people in pursuit of an unending messianic war to eliminate the Jewish state. Before October 7, Israelis dismissed this aspiration as unrealistic and believed that they were safe behind their high-tech border fence. After October 7, they no longer do. For Hamas, the conflict will not end until Israel is gone. For Israel, the conflict cannot end until Hamas is gone. Which means that though a new temporary cease-fire might still be struck in the coming days or weeks, the war will go on.”

Here is an analysis by Michael Koplow of the Israel Policy Forum further explaining the situation. He writes, "The resumption of fighting will make it difficult for Israel to recover its hostages, will buy more time in power for a deeply unpopular Israeli government, and will put Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s refusal to consider any implementable plan for Gaza into even starker relief as the IDF continues pushing a rock up an endless hill." He also states, "In fairness, there is a valid argument to return to fighting, which is that Hamas has done everything it can to demonstrate during the ceasefire that it has not only retained its position but rebuilt its authority and improved its capabilities. Post-October 7, Israel cannot sit back and watch Hamas reestablish the pre-October 7 status quo." 

I hope we can all agree that the hostages returning are a priority and efforts are made to end this war.

Amazingly, despite the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, Israel was ranked the 8th happiest country in the annual World Happiness Report. This was a drop from last year when Israel ranked 5th. The United States is 24th.

I have been asked to share thoughts on the Federal government’s response to antisemitism on campus. The Jewish Federation will not be commenting specifically on actions targeting funding to a university. We also will not be commenting on the details of the detention of any individual since we are not fully informed about the details.

We recognize that liberal and progressive groups have expressed alarm at immigration authorities seizing a lawful resident of the United States on the basis of his activism. Groups on the right have largely cheered the arrest of a campus activist whose actions they say abetted Hamas.

The Jewish Federation is committed to the rule of law and the protection of civil rights and civil liberties. Even those who have harassed and intimidated Jewish students are entitled to legal protections, not as a justification for their conduct, but because those principles safeguard all of us, including Jews.

We will continue to follow these cases.

This April, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is proud to be leading Good Deeds Month, a month of hands-on volunteer service to make a difference in Portland and the surrounding area. This is in conjunction with International Good Deeds Day happening in 115 countries. From cleaning up local parks, supporting food insecure neighbors, to sorting clothing, there is a volunteer opportunity for you. For a full list of program offerings and to register, check out our Good Deeds Month calendar.

It is March Madness and both the men’s and women’s tournaments have begun (I hope you got your bracket in on time). Perhaps this would be only of interest and pride to my grandmother, but several of the top teams have Jewish coaches. Auburn University has Bruce Pearl (Hebrew name is Mordecai, as he was born the week of Purim), University of Florida has Todd Golden (who played in the Maccabiah Games for the USA and for Maccabi Haifa), Duke University has Jon Scheyer (who once played professionally for Maccabi Tel Aviv), and University of Southern California’s women’s team is coached by Lindsay Gottlieb. We wish them all success!

Shabbat shalom, welcome to the start of spring, and I hope students and teachers enjoy their spring break.



PS – Nineteen years ago today, Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, sent the first tweet: "just setting up my twttr.” If messages today were only so simple.