Friday July 26, 2024 – כ׳ תַּמּוּז תשפ”ד Yesterday, I was proud to represent ARZA and the URJ alongside a group of Israelis, hostage families, and American Jews to raise our voices in protest over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s repeated failure to bring about a hostage deal and his insistence on an amorphous slogan of “total victory.”  We showed up as Zionists and as those who care and are deeply invested in the State and People of Israel. We came because of what our tradition tells us “All Jews are responsible for one another,”1 and that “There is no greater Mitzvah than the redeeming of the captives”2.   We came because time is of the essence and the hostages might not be able to survive much longer. We came because Netanyahu has prioritized his political survival and the preservation of his coalition over the release of the hostages, and he has capitulated to the ultra-Orthodox and the messianic fanatics who are bent on advancing their sectoral agenda – which many Israelis feel is driving the country into a downward spiral.   And I came because last week I stood with Esther Buchshtav and listened to her tell me about her son, Yagev, who loved life and created a home full of joy and music on Kibbutz Nirim.  On Monday morning, Esther learned that Yagev was killed in captivity. He will never return to the arms of his mother and loving family. And I came because last Monday in the Knesset, I listened to the pain of my friend Lee Siegel, a 70-year-old kibbutz member who grew up in North Carolina, and whose brother Keith is still in captivity. Keith’s wife Aviva was released in November during the short ceasefire and hostage deal.   There’s no question that Hamas is the guilty party. They perpetrated a massacre.  They committed mass acts of sexual violence. They kidnapped babies and grandmothers. But as Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Some are guilty, and all are responsible.”  And the Prime Minister bears responsibility for what happens next.  On Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered his speech with gusto and his trademark charisma, eliciting dozens of applause breaks and a much-coveted standing ovation. He used the opportunity to pull at the heartstrings of those in attendance and watching on TV with a show-and-tell style display of Israeli heroism with Ethiopian and Bedouin soldiers, along with the rescued former hostage Noa Argamani.   His strategic objective was to secure a green light to continue the war and guilt trip Congress and the Biden administration into fast-tracking much-needed weapons and ammunition. He pandered to Republicans and Democrats alike, paying lip service to bipartisanship (despite his record of fanning the flames of partisan division.)  The speech itself was well crafted and masterfully delivered. The only problem is that it was all smoke and mirrors.   The family members in the gallery and others watching on TV, American Jews, and others around the world desperately wanted to hear the PM say that he had secured a deal to bring the remaining hostages home and to end the war (either temporarily or permanently).  Imagine what it must be like to be a parent, sibling, child, or friend of a hostage, or a bereaved family member, and ten months after October 7, still be waiting to hear those words from the Prime Minister. That he did not say those words broke hearts and shattered hopes yet again.  Some were concerned that our gathering outside the Capitol yesterday (together with UnXeptable and other liberal Zionist organizations) would be conflated with the pro-Palestinian protesters who marched in the streets surrounding chanting anti-Israel and even antisemitic messages. But as we gathered, in a physical space of our own, wrapped in our blue and white flags, with yellow ribbons pinned to our shirts, holding up posters of hostages, and sharing our clear messages of love for Israel and our desire for it to go forward in strength and peace – there was little doubt as to who we were.   Let me be clear. The Reform Movement is a Zionist Movement that champions the right of the Jewish people to self-determination, self-defense, and to live in our sovereign entity with equal rights and opportunities for all its citizens. We champion democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism. We believe that Torah comes forth from Zion and that Israel is the only place that exists in Jewish time and Jewish space.   We also believe that Palestinians are equally entitled to self-determination and the right to a state. We can have room in our hearts to empathize with the tremendous suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. On the streets of Washington this week, I met a Palestinian-American who lost 31 members of his family in this war. He came seeking peace and knew that all hostages must be returned.   Benjamin Netanyahu is the democratically elected leader of the State of Israel. With that title and position come certain responsibilities – namely to protect and defend the people of the State of Israel. Our responsibility as Zionists is to demand that he lives up to that responsibility. Israelis are out in the streets protesting daily, calling for a negotiated ceasefire and for the hostages to be returned to their families. Our protest yesterday was in solidarity with them. This moment in time calls for a unified message to bring all of the hostages home through a negotiated deal and to end the war. All of the rest is commentary.