Solidarity with Israel? Sign a letter to President Herzog
Sign a letter to President Isaac Herzog to show your solidarity with Israel.
President Isaac Herzog
To show their solidarity with Israel, members of the Australian Jewish community and its friends and allies are invited to be signatories on a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The letter drafted by the Zionist Federation of Australia and the United Israel Appeal is a powerful articulation of what so many in Australia’s Jewish and broader community are thinking and feeling.
ZFA President Jeremy Leibler said: “It reflects the deep connections, at many levels, between Australia and Israel and the concern the signatories share for Israel and her people at this challenging time.”
“Words matter, and it is hoped that the letter’s words will provide immense comfort and support.”
UIA Australia President Esther Frenkiel said: “Community members are asking what they can do. Simply signing the letter online is one way to show that they stand with Israel.”
The letter and the list of signatories will be hand-delivered to President Herzog later this month when representatives of the United Israel Appeal and Zionist Federation of Australia visit Israel.
The letter will be available for community members to sign from Tuesday, 14 November and people are asked to sign it by Friday 24 November. The letter can be found at http://www.zfa.com.au/solidarity and it is hoped that thousands of Australians add their names to it.
The Letter
Dear President Herzog
We, members of the Australian Jewish community, our friends and allies, stand with you and with the people of Israel.
We stand against terror and against Hamas
We condemn Hamas and deplore its bloodlust and mission of genocide.
We stand against its decree to annihilate the State of Israel and massacre Jews around the world.
We decry the carnage, devastation and barbarity and insist that Hamas be held accountable.
We mourn the loss of innocent civilians
We cry for the massacred Israelis and foreign nationals and the lives of Palestinians used as human shields and cannon fodder for Hamas.
We are crestfallen by their loss.
We call for the return of all hostages
We call for the unconditional, safe return of the children, disabled, elderly and all others kidnapped from Israel into Gaza.
Their kidnap is a war crime and a crime against humanity.
We stand with the IDF
We stand with the soldiers protecting Israel and its citizens.
The IDF’s objective to dismantle Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza is a strategic and moral imperative and the only way to achieve sustainable peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people.
We stand with the people of Israel
We stand with those who have suffered unspeakable tragedy but continue to show humanity, compassion and resilience.
We grieve with the people of Israel whose loved ones have been murdered, maimed or are missing and embrace all who carry the scars of trauma inflicted by Hamas’s terrorism and the war it has caused.
We stand with the State of Israel and our shared values of humanity, democracy and the right to live in peace. We always have, and we always will.
To conclude with a prayer from Chapter 126 of Tehillim.
We are as if we were in a dream. May G-d return those who have been captured like the streams in the Negev. May we, who are sowing our seeds as we cry, reap the harvest with joy.
היינו כחולמים. שובה ה׳ את שביתנו (שבויותינו) כאפיקים בנגב. הזרעים בדמעה ברנה יקצורו.
Your link to the letter to be signed online: https://tinyurl.com/58yb8z5f
I wish to say more than what is in the letter.
I know and recognise that Israeli Jews in fighting for the survival of
Israel, are risking and too often sacrificing their lives for Jews everywhere, including of course those of us in the Diaspora.