U.S. complicity in Gaza

To the editor:

Does the end justify the means was a question often posed about the policies of two brilliant and deeply flawed New Yorkers: Robert Moses and Henry Kissinger. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist government should now be asked this same question, given Israel’s cruelly disproportionate response to the brutal war crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7.  

After 47 days of continuous bombing of Gaza by Israel, the destruction has been shocking. The end goal of “destroying Hamas” has resulted in the deaths of over 15,000 Palestinians (a majority of whom were women and children), and the wounding of 30,000 to 35,000 people. The Israeli Defense Forces have dropped 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs on congested urban areas, partially or completely destroying 60,000 buildings, including hospitals and schools. Approximately 1.8 million Gazans or 80 percent of the population have been displaced.  

A siege of Gaza has prevented even a minimally adequate supply of fuel, food, water and medical supplies from reaching the trapped population. 

The Biden administration is complicit in Israel’s war policy. Washington gives unconditional military and diplomatic support. New weapons have been rushed to the IDF without the normal State Department vetting process, while Biden has requested an additional $14 billion dollars in military aid.  

The administration has refused to support a permanent cease-fire. Biden’s and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s calls for Israel to exercise caution and protect Palestinian civilians are empty gestures. When the Netanyahu government ignores this advice, it suffers no penalty.

The road to a two-state solution or a political confederation that would end the cycle of violence and provide peace seems as distant as the commandments in the Bible, “to love your neighbor like yourself and to respect the strangers in your midst.”

Howard Elterman