To the editor: There are no words to express the disgust I felt as I labored through Rabbi Aryeh Cohen’s op-ed article, “I’m a rabbi and a former IDF soldier. This Yom Kippur I’m atoning for my part in the occupation.”
As we gather to seek atonement for our sins, I am plagued by the existential threat to not only the very existence of the Jewish state of Israel, but for every Jew worldwide. I know that my European family of 6 million would not have been slaughtered had there been an Israel — and my life is enriched, dare I say possible, by the very existence of Israel.
We are not a perfect nation, there is none in this world, but we do strive to conduct ourselves in a godly manner. I would rather see this rabbi enhance that endeavor rather than supplement Jew hatred.
Alyse Golden Berkley, Encino
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To the editor: Israel is a killing machine. It has violated dozens of United Nations resolutions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s primary response in rebuttal is to make accusations of antisemitism.
Why are so many elected officials afraid to look at the facts? The overwhelming majority of the more than 40,000 people killed in the Gaza Strip has been civilians. Israeli forces have also destroyed the majority of infrastructure in Gaza.
How much is enough revenge for the attack on Oct. 7, 2023? Israel must be stopped now. Please help stop killing people.
Craig Brod, Santa Monica
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To the editor: I agree with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst that the Israelis are in a position where they can wage war aimed at the destruction of their enemies, or they can have a deal and get back the remaining hostages. I also agree that Palestinian suffering is tragic. (“After a year of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war, here’s what I know,” Opinion, Oct. 7)
But I challenge his conclusion that the Israelis should abandon their fight. I believe he, and many of us in the secure West, have forgotten the reality of a seemingly impossible war.
Impossible wars must be waged to secure peace. Winston Churchill’s words serve as a reminder that when facing a great terror, the answer is “victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
Gideon Askowitz, White Plains, N.Y.
