ACLJ Sends Letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Offering Support for Israel’s Right To Defend Itself After Despicable Attack

On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed as over 1,400 innocent Israelis, from infants to the elderly, were hunted down and slaughtered by the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas. Hundreds more were abducted and remain missing, to be either ransomed or used as human shields.

I have just sent an urgent letter directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing my grief, my sympathy, and most importantly, our support from the ACLJ:

Please accept my heartfelt condolences for the widespread loss of life visited upon Israel by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, the 7th of October. Like so many others, I viewed with horror the photos on the news as well as social media footage of Hamas terrorists celebrating their despicable acts of indiscriminate murder, rape, desecration of the dead, and hostage taking. Words cannot express the revulsion and anger I felt and still feel as I watched that footage. Israel has witnessed firsthand the face of demonic evil in those barbarous acts.

Israel is America’s greatest ally in the Middle East, and the ACLJ has spent decades defending her interests in court, on Capitol Hill, and at the United Nations.

As I said in my letter to the Prime Minister:

I was honored to be with you in the Oval Office during my representation of President Trump for the signing of the Golan Declaration and, then again, with you in Jerusalem for the opening of the U.S. Embassy there.

On a personal level, I am the child of Jewish immigrants, and this attack sickened me to my core, as it did nearly every Jewish American. The words “never again,” synonymous with the Holocaust, echoed in our ears as we watched history begin to repeat itself.

When these attacks happened, we warned that it wouldn’t take long for the sentiment in the media to turn from sympathy for Israel to condemnation. And it has already begun. When jihadist terrorists misfired a rocket that landed on a Gaza hospital, killing scores of civilians, the mainstream media immediately accused Israel of the heinous crime. Yet it only took hours to discover that it had been the terrorists themselves who fired the rocket all along, as was revealed on surveillance video of two Hamas operatives. We’re still waiting for many retractions and apologies from our own media and certain lawmakers, but I suspect we may be waiting a long time.

This is why I felt it imperative to assure the Prime Minister that these hurtful sentiments were not representative of all, or even most, Americans. And I reiterated the ACLJ’s undying support for Israel’s right not only to exist but also to defend itself, stating:

Please be assured of our prayers for the families directly touched by Hamas’s savage attacks, for the entire nation of Israel as you prepare to take the fight to the enemy, and for you and your team as you plan and execute righteous judgment on those who planned and perpetrated these heinous attacks. May the Sovereign of the Universe give you and your leadership team Divine wisdom in all that you do in responding to this outrage. May He guide your planning, and may He guide each bomb the IAF drops and each round fired by the IDF to find its proper target. Most of all, may He reveal Himself and His righteous anger to your enemies so they tremble in fear as they come to realize that the Holy One of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps as He regards His people.

My letter also assured PM Netanyahu that the full strength of the ACLJ is standing with Israel:

I want to personally assure you on behalf of the over 550,000 members of the ACLJ, that we stand in solidarity with you and the people of Israel and that we pray for God’s protection of Israel as you root out and destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We support your objective to utterly destroy Hamas and its operatives. Hamas is a cancer on the land that will continue to metastasize until it is completely removed.

Now more than ever, we must all stand and share our support for the State of Israel and the Israeli people. Your prayers and support are essential. The atrocities committed against Israel were unprovoked and can never be justified. Israel has every right to defend herself.

As I concluded: “May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless and protect you, your team, and the people of Israel as, together, you execute your mission to rid Gaza of Hamas. Am Yisrael Chai!”

Stand with us. Stand with Israel.