American Support of Israel Should Remain Resolute

*Editor's Note: The following letter was sent to President Barack Obama from state Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), the president of the state's chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, and a copy was forwarded to the Glen Cove Patch.

Dear President Obama:

The New York chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators urges you to remain resolute in American support of Israel, which continues to be our staunch ally.

Israel, and for that matter Egypt, maintains a blockade of Gaza because it is a lawless region misgoverned by Hamas, its predominant military faction.  Absent that blockade, only the most naïve could believe that the common enemies of the United States and Israel would refrain from delivering sophisticated arms to those who every day fire rockets at Israel's civilians.

While both Americans and Israelis value civil disobedience, the actions of the individuals who attacked the Israeli commandos were anything but civil.  In point of fact, their purpose and their sponsors' obvious intent were to incite anti-Israeli fervor.

No nation has gone to the extent of Israel to seek peace, which would be difficult enough for any two conflicted nations to agree upon. It is untenable, however, to maintain that peace could be negotiated with Hamas, Gaza's ruler, whose charter mandates the destruction of Israel, the killing of the Jews and explicitly cites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as its philosophical basis.

Israel is not only our true ally, but it is the only beacon of freedom and modernity in an area of the world in which our common enemy would, given the opportunity, turn the clock back hundreds of years to a "utopian" age when caliphs ruled.

We therefore urge that our nation remain steadfast in its strong commitment in support of Israel.

This letter is signed by every member of the New York chapter of the National Association of Jewish Legislators.

Thank you for your consideration respecting this matter.

Sincerely,

Charles Lavine

NAJLNY President