July 13, 2006
The Jewish Community Relations Council, representing more than 80 synagogues and Jewish organizations in the Bay Area, unequivocally condemns the unprovoked and deadly rocket and mortar attacks by the Iranian and Syrian-backed terror group Hezbollah on Israeli northern communities. These attacks, along with the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists near the Lebanese border and Palestinian terrorists operating from Gaza, demonstrate a dramatic escalation by the enemies of Israel and peace.
This attack would not have been possible without the explicit authorization of Hezbollah’s two main state sponsors in the region, Iran and Syria, which continue to harbor terror group leaders. Israel possesses the inalienable right of any sovereign nation to defend its citizens from violent attack.
We, the organized Jewish community, stand steadfastly by Israel in its efforts to protect its citizens from acts of terrorism. For over 20 years our Jewish community, through the Jewish Community Federation, has supported and partnered with social service organizations, schools and innovative projects in the Upper Galilee region of Israel. We are deeply saddened that our many friends there have once again been forced to seek safety from attack in bomb shelters.
We are gratified by the strong words of support from our government regarding Israel’s right of self-defense. The international community must pressure the governments involved to reign in Hezbollah, including disarming the terror group. In addition, the Lebanese government must deploy its army to southern Lebanon along the internationally recognized Israeli–Lebanese border.
We call upon the Syrians and Iranians to cease provoking war, and to pursue peace.
Israel has had to defend its very existence for nearly 60 years in the face of active and sustained threats that include terrorism, boycotts, an international campaign to de-legitimize its right to exist, and multiple wars waged by more than a dozen Arab and Muslim states. Most of these states have yet to follow the example of Jordan and Egypt in making peace with Israel.
True peace can only come when Israel’s enemies renounce violence and accept Israel’s right to exist in secure and recognized borders. Only when Israel is secure can it — as it has on numerous occasions — make bold moves for peace. The Hamas–Hezbollah attacks make the goal of peace much more difficult to attain — a tragedy for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people and indeed for all the peoples of the Middle East.
The Jewish Community Relations Council is the central public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, representing more than 80 synagogues and Jewish organizations in the Bay Area on pubic affairs issues.
JCRC is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay.