As a New Jerseyan, and a member of the Jewish community, I am writing to express my profound disappointment with your recent vote in favor of the two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, in concert with Senator Bernie Sanders and a small (and dwindling) number of Democratic senators. As you are the senator of the state with the fourth-largest Jewish population (8% of its total), and given your impressive background of service at the Pentagon and the White House National Security Council, I am flabbergasted that you would cast your vote accordingly… especially without prior consultation of your Jewish advisers, who would have been more than happy to provide you the perspective of how it would be interpreted by your Jewish constituents.
I read your statement about why you voted the way you did. While earnest and seemingly well-meaning, it was quite tone-deaf to the Jewish community and to those who side with good (and against evil). Let me explain why.
If Israel was fighting a typical army, which fights in uniform, above ground, and protects its citizen population, these heavy arms would probably not be necessary. When it comes to Hamas, though, nothing could be further from the truth. They have built 250-plus miles of tunnels underground, fight mostly in civilian clothes, and use Gaza’s population as human shields. These arms are mandatory in order to penetrate Hamas command centers and terrorist bunkers deep underground.
How appropriate it would have been for Egypt, at the beginning of the war (or any time since—including now) to urge the Gaza population to move out of harm’s way into the adjoining Sinai Peninsula. Any other Arab country could have done the same as well. Instead, they expected Israel to fight a war in one of the most densely populated areas of the world, against an asymmetrical enemy, and incur minimal collateral damage.
Well, guess what? Israel is actually, against all odds, doing comparatively well. Its civilian death ratio is among the lowest in modern warfare, due to communicating (through phone calls, texts and leaflets) its war plans to the population in advance in order to move them away from harm’s way, and through its use of sophisticated technology. Every innocent civilian is absolutely a tragedy, and Israel tries its very best to avoid them. However, Israel must eradicate the evil menace of Hamas at its border, given that Hamas has sworn to repeat Oct. 7, 2023 (slaughter, burnings, rape, beheadings, hostage-taking) time and time again, and given the monstrous manner that Hamas treated the hostages, as we now know from the hostages’ testimonies.
Israel was hopeful that it would not have to resort to another round of war, and that Hamas would release the rest of the hostages during the ceasefire. After weeks of Hamas dragging their feet and being unresponsive during the negotiations, Israel grudgingly concluded that “enough is enough.”
The phrase in your statement that I found most triggering (as would be the case with the Jewish community as a whole) was your reference to the “cycle of violence.” (“The most important thing we can do is work to avoid making the mistakes of the past and focus on objectives that break the cycle of violence once and for all.”) That mealymouthed expression is straight from the United Nations playbook, which assesses the perpetrator and the victim equally. It’s actually quite simple: If Hamas returned all the hostages, relinquished their arms, stopped trying to govern Gaza (against the wishes of many, if not most, of the Gazans, as we are beginning to see now in the mass protests against them), and ended all attacks against Israel (rocket and otherwise), there would be zero “violence” coming from Israel. The originator of the “violence” is consistently from one side.
Israel, like any other sovereign nation, is beholden to protect its citizens. It is not situated in a “cushy” part of the world like we are, and must deal with those geopolitical realities. So please do not be misled by those who wring their hands at the “cycle of violence,” and please expunge that phrase from your vocabulary.
Your vote regrettably did not demonstrate support of the vulnerable Jewish community of New Jersey, nor of Israel as it fights a seven-front war single-handedly. I hope and expect that we will not see a repeat of such a vote again during your tenure, and that the conversations you are no doubt having now with Jewish leaders in New Jersey and nationally will enable you to stand on the right side of history going forward. I am happy to engage in dialogue with you and/or your staff at any time.
