October 7 a Year Later
On the first anniversary of the horrific attacks on October 7 I’m feeling sad and upset. And pessimistic even though there is an opportunity for things to be better.
A year ago today, in Jerusalem, I woke up to the sounds of sirens, and spent the day meeting my new neighbors in the bomb shelter, collecting my friends and family visiting from the States from their hotels, and doom scrolling and daytime drinking.
A year later, we’re still at war.
One man – one evil man – made a decision to launch an attack on Israel, an attack he must have known he could never truly win, and a year later 1,500 Israelis are dead, over 40,000 Gazans are dead (including over 17,000 militants), and now over 1,500 Lebanese are dead, and some small number of Iranians are dead.
Gaza has been turned to rubble, hundreds of thousands of people are evacuated from northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Hamas and Hezbollah’s leadership has been decimated. Israel’s economy has been trashed. Antisemitism worldwide has taken a very ugly turn. The world is waiting for Israel’s response to a missile attack from Iran.
Israelis have been shaken to their core. We were let down by our government. The government could and should have protected us from something like this, and they failed. And Netanyahu has yet to take responsibility for his strategic failures and the tactical failures of people he appointed.
The country feels like it is both united and divided. United in supporting each other. United in helping those who have been most deeply affected by the war. And divided in what should come next. Make a deal to release the hostages? Or keep fighting? A future with a Palestinian state? Or a future with settlements in a reoccupied Gaza?
I am horrified by the idiots in the West who support Hamas and Hezbollah. Do they not see what those organizations have done to their own people? The people of Gaza are living in rubble because of Hamas, and Hamas executes anyone they don’t approve of, including critics and gays. Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon into a war the Lebanese people do not want or need. Hamas and Hezbollah don’t want to “liberate” anyone. They want to make everyone live under a theocratic dictatorship.
Contrary to what Netanyahu’s far-right messianic coalition partners believe, real peace to Israel will never come through military might alone. It requires military might, but it also requires diplomacy and a negotiated end to hostility.
Israel’s stunning military successes have created an opportunity for a new and improved Middle East. The UAE has said they would be willing to send troops to Gaza as part of a multinational force to secure peace there, and Saudi has said they are willing to normalize relations with Israel and help fund the rebuilding of Gaza – both if Israel agrees to a Palestinian state. Which Netanyahu is so far refusing to do because his coalition partners said they would bring down the government if he does.
And the decapitation of Hezbollah presents an opportunity for Lebanon. If the rival factions can get their act together, they could appoint a prime minister (Lebanon has had only a caretaker government for the last 18 months) and really rebuild their country. The interim prime minister has said he is now willing to send Lebanese troops to south Lebanon to enforce the UN resolution a previous government agreed to that ensure Hezbollah military forces remain north of the Litani River, giving some security to the north of Israel.
If those two things happen, Israel could enjoy a new era of sustained peace and prosperity. If they don’t happen we could have ongoing war, ongoing misery for the people of Gaza, a choice between reoccupying south Lebanon (remember how well that worked out last time?) and people in the north of Israel living with the constant threat of rockets.
I’ll close with a prayer:
Ribono shel Olam
Master of the Universe!
Your children long for peace
Cousins
Children of Isaac and children of Ishmael
Open the eyes of the leaders
Leaders of Israel and leaders of Palestine
As you opened the eyes of Jacob in his dream
As you opened the eyes of Hagar by the well
May they see the path forward
A path of peace, not war
A path of cooperation, not hate
A path of reconciliation
Adon hashalom
Master of peace
Bring us peace!