LETTER FROM ISRAEL AT WAR – WEEK 26

Today’s “Free World” is failing to realise that being truly “politically correct” requires eliminating evil.

By Harris Zvi Green

March 29, 2024

My dearest friends,

This week’s letter will be the last in my series of weekly letters from Israel. I’m not announcing my retirement or throwing in the towel. Hopefully, I’ll be back in a less frequent and different format.

Thanks to those who took the trouble to read my letters, especially those who chose to engage with me on some of the issues I chose to write about. We may not have agreed on everything but, having you on my distribution list, enabled me to get some of the frustrations off my chest.

The aim of my letters was to make readers aware of how this conflict is affecting the lives of so many Israelis. I wasn’t looking for sympathy. I was seeking empathy for my people. I chose to focus on my personal experiences and wrote about the roles my family and friends were playing in these challenging times.

Thanks to those of you who regularly inquired about the wellbeing of my family. Your concern means so much to me. Thank God, they’re all doing well. Some of them have received call-up papers for additional stints of reserve duty.

Even after 175 days of bloody warfare, the battle is far from over. One hundred and thirty-four Israelis are still being held hostage in Gaza. Close to 200,000 Israelis along our southern and northern borders are still displaced from their homes. Missiles, including anti-tank and mortar fire, fired from Gaza and Lebanon, continue to rain down on population centers in Israel.

The war of words against Israel continues. The institutions representing the International Community have succumbed to terror. They abuse their positions of power to demonize Israel and to re-write the history books. They have failed us badly. The so-called “Free World” doesn’t have the stomach to eliminate evil. Being “politically correct” is so much easier. They don’t realize that being politically correct requires eliminating this enemy. They’ve forgotten that what starts with the Jews doesn’t end with the Jews.

Biden’s Golda Moment. “We have nowhere else to go,” was the chilling message a newly-elected Democratic senator from Delaware, Joe Biden received from his meeting in 1973 with then Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir. (Photos: Getty Images /AP)

I know we will ultimately prevail. We have no choice. As Golda Meir once told Joe Biden:

 “We have nowhere else to go”.

Biden remembers Golda’s comment but he doesn’t seem able to comprehend its significance and its ramifications. Once again, the Jewish people is having to pay a huge price for its freedom.

Without a doubt, this week’s “Hero of the Week” award goes to Amit Sousanna. Sousanna, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, was abducted from her home on October 7. After 55 days in Gaza, she was released in exchange for the release of convicted terrorists.

“Hero of the Week”. Talking to the press in front of her destroyed home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, on January 29, 2024, released Gaza hostage Amit Soussana gave her personal testimony of the sexual violence and physical abuse she endured in Hamas captivity in an eight-hour interview last week with The New York Times. 
(Photo: Reuters/ Alexandre Meneghini) 

In an eight-hour interview with the New York Times, Sousanna spoke in detail about the way she was sexually abused by her captors. Hopefully, her willingness to make her experiences public, will enhance awareness of the savage cruelty Israel is up against and the dangers that continue to face the hostages.

Unfortunately, neither Sousanna’s interview nor the UN report confirming the rapes committed, were sufficient for the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Hamas for the outrageous events of October 7. It appears that the indiscriminate murder of 1,200 people, the abduction of more than 250 Israelis, the firing of more than 12,000 missiles into Israel since October 7 and the recorded acts of rape and sexual perversion are acceptable forms of behavior in the eyes of the UN Security Council.

South Africa’s corrupt government has again called on the International Court of Justice to censure Israeli military action in Gaza yet they remain silent on the release of the hostages and the use of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital as an offensive military installation.

My friends in South African tell me the ruling party in South Africa is doing what it’s doing for “electoral gain”. If that’s the case, South Africa’s moral compass is even more dysfunctional.

I was upset to hear of Senator Joe Lieberman’s passing. He was so different from the politicians who currently occupy center stage. Senator Lieberman was respected by all. His personal integrity was never in doubt. He was quiet but had no difficulty in making himself heard whenever he had something to say. Our world will be a poorer place without him.

Mensch with a Mission. The writer laments the sad passing of Joe Lieberman (right), the first Jewish candidate for vice president on a major party ticket who is seen with Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore at a campaign rally in Jackson, Tenn., Oct. 25, 2000. (Photo: AP /Stephan Savoia)

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers. May the hostages soon be reunited with their families. May you all be blessed with good health to see smiles on the faces of your loved ones for many years to come.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai. Harris Zvi Green



About the writer:

Harris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Aged 77, he made Aliyah 53 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. He is married to Phyllis. They have 3 married children ,13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Harris Zvi Green is a founder member of Truth be Told, an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.