by Rabbi Judy Schindler   

A recent Israeli poll shows that 69% of Israelis support ending the Gaza war as part of a hostage deal. I stand with them.    

While I do not and have not lived as an Israeli, and recognize I cannot speak from that vantage point, my love for Israel and commitment to its right to exist calls me to speak out.  

To criticize one’s country is not betrayal—it is an act of love and moral responsibility. Senator William Fulbright, in his opposition to the Vietnam War, once said: “To criticize one’s country is to do it a service… Criticism, in short, is more than a right; it is an act of patriotism—a higher form of patriotism, I believe, than the familiar rituals and national adulation.”   

As a progressive Zionist, I believe the same holds true in my relationship with Israel. Criticism rooted in love, justice, and shared values is not a rejection of Zionism—it is its fulfillment.   

Modern Zionism, at its core, began as a late 19th century movement for justice—a vision for a return to an historic homeland for a persecuted Jewish people in desperate need of safety and dignity. That moral vision is embedded in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which pledges that the State of Israel “will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture…”   

Just as I am committed to helping America live up to the ideals enshrined in its Constitution, I am equally committed to helping Israel live up to the ideals enshrined in its founding document.   

My father, Rabbi Alexander Schindler, of blessed memory, described his own ideology as “prophetic Zionism” —a Zionism tempered by prophetic morality that praises Israel when she is right, and lovingly but firmly calls her to account when she is wrong.   

I’m not telling Israelis what to say and who to vote for, but the Israeli government has failed to articulate a humane vision for Gaza. Some in the Israeli far-right have expressed dehumanizing and cruel statements about Palestinians and Gazans, in particular. Not only does it hurt Israel’s image, but it makes it harder for us here to defend Israel.  

I’m not telling Palestinians what to say or who to vote for, but should the future opportunity present itself, there is no future and well-being for Palestinians under Hamas. Hamas’ barbaric actions and oppressive regime not only harms Israel and poses an existential threat, but if given free rein, Hamas is a danger to any free-thinking Gazan under their rule.    

What Does It Mean to End the War and Advance Peace?   

Ben Sales of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently asked 12 experts what might bring the Gaza War to an end. You can read their insights here.  

To chart a path forward, we must commit to these truths:    

• Peace requires being pro-Israel.   Supporting Israel’s right to exist and ensuring the safety and security of its people is non-negotiable. Anything less empowers Iran’s and Hamas’ (along with Iran’s other proxies’) genocidal aims and undermines any future for peace. 
• Peace requires being pro-Palestinian.   This means ending Hamas’ oppressive rule over Gaza’s two million civilians and supporting a new political reality—led perhaps by a coalition of Arab states—that will help Gaza rebuild, govern, and flourish. The Israeli military campaign must end in tandem with a credible, international plan to replace Hamas and reconstruct Gaza.   
• Peace requires freeing the hostages.  For 600 days now, 58 hostages have been held captive in Gaza. 20 are estimated to be alive. The return of the hostages has been viewed by the vast majority of Israelis as essential from the start of the war to today. The crisis cuts to the core of Israeli identity and any failure to bring them all home, would forever torment Israeli society. The value of pidyon shvu’im, returning the captives, is a deeply held Jewish and Israeli value. 
• Peace requires humanitarian aid.   
  Israel and the global community must guarantee that aid reaches civilians. Neither Hamas nor the Israeli government should be allowed to use humanitarian aid as a political weapon.   
• Peace requires international leadership—and our own.   
  While governments and diplomats negotiate, we too must raise our voices. We must reject simplistic slogans and instead model a morally grounded, historically informed, justice-driven approach. 
• Peace requires rejecting dehumanization.   
  Demonizing Israelis or Palestinians serves no one. It fans the flames of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and violence far beyond the borders of this conflict. Those who seek peace between Palestinians and Israelis must call hatred aimed at either.  

I don’t have all the answers, but we need to hold onto these values. 

We Need New Voices and New Solutions   

The current conflict will not be resolved by the same patterns that led us here. We need new and courageous and moral leadership—Jewish, Palestinian, Arab, and international—to bring about a new reality.   

Here are three insights from the experts in Sales’ JTA article that highlight both the challenge and the path forward:   

• Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, head of Realign for Palestine, Atlantic Council:   

“What is desperately needed is to introduce new players on the ground beyond Israel and Hamas; that would entail the immediate formation of a joint Arab, and international policing force with the involvement of elements of the Palestinian Authority’s security services to go into zones currently held by the Israeli military inside the Strip.   

Simply pulling out the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip without any viable alternative to hold those zones will automatically mean the return of what remains of Hamas to controlling the lives of 2 million Palestinian residents of the territory.”    

• Dan Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel:   

“The priority… should be to get all the hostages home… That deal should be coupled with a commitment from Arab states to use their financial, political and military assets to exile Hamas leaders and fighters from Gaza and destruction of their weapons as a condition for Gaza’s reconstruction.”   

• Einat Wilf, former Knesset member:   

“The question is not whether one wants the war to end… The question is how? Will this war end with Hamas and its ideology in control of all of Gaza’s territory? With billions of dollars flowing in? Or will it end, as it should, with the unconditional release of hostages, surrender of Hamas, and the beginning of a process to transform the destructive ideology of Palestinianism into one that wants to build for the Arabs rather than destroy what the Jews have built?”   

This is not a time for moral confusion. It is a time for moral clarity.  Two-thirds of Israelis want the war to end as part of a hostage deal. I stand with them. I do not stand with anti-Zionists who call for Israel’s destruction, deny the legitimacy of Jewish self-determination, demonize Israel or use this war to justify hate. Nearly half the world’s Jews – over 7 million – live in Israel. To be anti-Zionist today is too often to support harm against them.  I do not stand with ultranationalists in Israel who demonize Palestinians and other minorities.  

Israelis, Palestinians, Jews and Muslims are all deeply traumatized by the past near-20 months. We cannot begin to heal until the hostages are home and the war ends. It is then that we can heal ourselves and our relationships.  

Peace is possible —but only if we demand it from ourselves, our leaders, and each other.