“I’m a rabbi,” proclaims Rick Jacobs in his shameful Washington Post hit piece against Israel, as if his credentials as president of the Union for Reform Judaism grant him authority to dictate Jewish values while Israel fights for survival. His recent op-ed attacking Israel’s blockade of Gaza exposes everything wrong with progressive Jewish “leadership” in America – willing to sacrifice Jewish lives on the altar of liberal sensibilities.
Who exactly is Rick Jacobs representing when he demands Israel feed the very people who danced in the streets after October 7th? Not the Bible. Not the people of Israel. And certainly not the hostages still suffering in Hamas tunnels.
The most dangerous lie in this conflict – the lie Jacobs eagerly perpetuates – is the false division between “Hamas terrorists” and “innocent Gazans.” This fantasy collapses under even the most basic scrutiny.
Hamas didn’t fall from the sky. These 40,000+ terrorists were raised, educated, and celebrated in Gaza. They are the sons, brothers, and husbands of the very people Jacobs wants us to feed. When Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in the 2006 Palestinian election, they did so with overwhelming popular support. A December 2023 poll showed 72% of Arabs in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria believed the October 7th massacre was “correct” – with support for Hamas rising after the attack.
What kind of culture produces thousands of men who proudly video themselves raping Jewish teen girls before executing them? What sort of society produces baby killers who burn infant bodies? These aren’t “lone actors” – they are representatives of their people.
After October 7th, Israeli authorities interrogated over 4,000 Gazan Arabs who had work permits in the communities Hamas attacked. Many provided critical intelligence to Hamas, mapping out kibbutzim, identifying security personnel’s homes, and even counting children in each house.
These are the “innocent Palestinians” Rabbi Jacobs demands we feed.
Jacobs selectively quotes Deuteronomy 20:19 about not destroying fruit trees during a siege – as if this somehow prohibits blockades during a time of war. This is sheer intellectual dishonesty. The very passage he cites explicitly affirms the legitimacy of siege warfare – a tactic designed to pressure enemy populations into surrender by restricting resources.
What Jacobs conveniently ignores is the Bible’s unambiguous approach to existential enemies. When Amalek attacked the Israelites, God commanded: “Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys!” (I Samuel 15:3). When King Saul showed misguided mercy, Samuel rebuked him severely, then “hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord” (I Samuel 15:33).
As Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik taught: “The evil intentions of the Arabs are not only directed against our national independence but against the continued existence of the Jewish presence in Israel… When a nation emblazons on its standard, ‘Come, let us cut them off from being a nation so that the name of Israel shall no longer be remembered’ (Psalms 83:5), it becomes Amalek.”
This biblical teaching doesn’t mean we should slaughter all Gazans. But it does teach us a crucial orientation – that when faced with an enemy dedicated to our destruction, our primary moral obligation is to ensure Jewish safety, not to feed those who wish to destroy us.
The fundamental error in Jacobs’ thinking – and the fatal delusion of Western liberalism – is the refusal to see this as a war between nations. This is not a surgical operation against a terrorist organization that has taken Palestinians hostage. This is not Ahmed and Mustafa fighting against Moishe and Chaim. This is the Arab nation against the Jewish nation.
Rabbi Jacobs claims blockading Gaza “neither will bring Israel the ‘total victory’ over Hamas it seeks nor can be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law.” This statement betrays both historical ignorance and moral confusion. Did the Allies concern themselves with delivering humanitarian aid to German civilians during World War II? Did Winston Churchill prioritize feeding German children over defeating the Nazi regime? Of course not. They understood that decisive victory sometimes requires civilian hardship to hasten surrender.
History is made up of nations, not individuals. A nation is not just a collection of people – it is an entity in itself, with its own character, values, and destiny. The individuals are transient; they are merely the building blocks of the nation.
When America dropped atomic bombs on Japan, they didn’t target the Japanese who were guilty of attacking Pearl Harbor – they targeted the entire Japanese nation. They understood that in war, one nation must defeat another nation. This understanding isn’t cruel; it’s the only path to decisive victory.
True morality demands we protect our people first. The blockade must continue and intensify until Hamas surrenders unconditionally, all hostages are returned, and Gaza permanently demilitarizes.
Rabbi Jacobs’ brand of “Jewish values” is nothing but Western liberalism dressed in a tallit. His shameful op-ed reveals him as what he truly is – not a spiritual leader guided by Torah, but a mouthpiece for progressive politics willing to sacrifice Jewish lives to maintain his standing among liberal elites.
