March 5, 2008 / 28 Adar I 5768

Dear Friends,

For several days now, there has been an escalation of Kassam rocket attacks against Sderot and the Gaza perimeter communities, and Grad rocket attacks against Ashkelon and Netivot. Last weekend, more than 150 rockets landed in the western Negev. 

The war against the area's civilian residents, which has been going on for more than seven years, has recently cost a heavy price in life and property. Two weeks ago Osher Twito, a 10-year old boy from Sderot who participates in the Jewish Agency's Youth Futures program, lost his leg in an attack; a few days ago, Yossi Haimov, a boy of eight from Sderot, was injured; last Thursday, Roni Yechiah was killed, a 47-year-old father of four who was studying at Sapir College, which the Jewish Agency supports with millions of shekels worth of scholarships; Grad missiles exploded on the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon several days ago and on Shabbat on a beach filled with thousands of citizens. There were many casualties.

After a lengthy period of restraint on the part of the Government of Israel, a limited military campaign in the Gaza Strip was decided upon. Tough battles ensued in populated areas which resulted in the deaths of two IDF soldiers on Saturday, Staff Sergeant Doron Asoulin from Beersheva and Staff Sergeant Eran Dan-Gur from Jerusalem, both of the Givati brigade. 
 
At the beginning of the week, I visited Sderot and the Gaza perimeter communities to meet with Alon Shuster, head of the Regional Council of Sha'ar Hanegev and the Council's executive members. I also visited our students at the Ibim Student Village and met with the students of Sapir College and the College administration. I heard about their feelings of frustration, anxiety and tension that are always with them and with the residents of the region, when all they want is a peaceful life without deadly Kassam missiles threatening their very existence.

Parallel to this visit, we announced that in the coming months the Jewish Agency will give priority in purchasing products and services from businesses in Sderot and the Gaza perimeter communities that have been seriously affected by the continuing security situation. I am happy to announce that United Jewish Communities/the Federations of North America, through the Israel Emergency Campaign, allocated more than $3 million in additional aid for the embattled Sderot region and Ashkelon in southern Israel.  

Next week, we are also initiating a fair for small businesses from Sderot and the Gaza perimeter communities in Tel Aviv. Run in conjunction with the Tel Aviv municipality, we hope that residents from the center of the country will show their solidarity with the people from this beleaguered region, and will purchase goods and services that will revitalize their economy. 

On Sunday, March 9th, at noon Eastern time, UJC has initiated a live satellite broadcast from Sapir College with the participation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, leaders of the UJC from North America, the Jewish Agency, JDC, Sapir College students and residents of the region, that will detail the ongoing situation to our concerned friends in Jewish federations throughout North America. 

It is important for me to share with you the fact that the State of Israel is not waging war against the residents of the Gaza Strip but against Hamas extremists who intentionally aim their Kassam and Grad rockets against innocent civilians in order to injure and kill indiscriminately. 

IDF soldiers are in the Gaza Strip in order to defend the citizens of Sderot, Ashkelon, Gaza perimeter and Netivot, and not in order to injure Palestinian citizens. Unfortunately, Hamas fighters have no scruples about children going out onto the battlefields of Gaza's streets, and this often results in citizens getting hurt. The Gaza rockets are launched on purpose from inside homes on streets crowded with Palestinian civilians. 

Firing rockets directly at the civilian population, as Hamas does, is a serious infraction of international law and is defined as such in war crime laws. Israel's self-defense is anchored in international law as a primary responsibility of the state towards its citizens.

Israel has been in this situation for many years, and the international community has continued to cast a blind eye at the rocket fire of Hamas and other terror organizations against Israeli citizens. Unfortunately, when Israel reacts in order to stop this fire and distance the rocket launchers from its borders, we are subject to condemnation in the world of public opinion.

Hamas is not only the enemy of the State of Israel; it is the enemy of moderate Palestinians, it is the enemy of the chance for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and it is a danger to the free world. It is a terrorist organization linked to Iran, which today supplies it with arms to attack Israel and which may in the future supply it with arms for targeting any place in the world.

During these difficult days, I wrote a personal letter to the Jewish Agency emmisaries around the world, who are certainly facing questions and perhaps criticism regarding the military campaign which Israel just launched, asking them to assist in the hasbara efforts and present the positions of the State of Israel on this issue.

I hope that you, our partners and friends around the world, will remember the suffering of the residents of this region, including thousands of new immigrants in the absorption centers that are within rocket fire range and the thousands of children and youths participating in Jewish Agency programs in the area, as well as our dedicated employees who are working tirelessly to support and assist in this difficult period.

It is our hope that you, our wonderful partners, friends and donors from the world over and Israel, will serve as their spokespeople, and will assist them in every possible way, as we have been doing in recent years. This war is not the war of the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon and the Gaza perimeter communities. It is a war for the existence of the State of Israel, its security and its future. 

I believe that our joint stand and commitment to Sderot, Ashkelon and the Gaza perimeter communities will assist them to overcome this difficult period.