Ahead of a solidarity mission of more than 50 international Jewish community leaders to Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder said Hamas’ refusal to sign up to an Egyptian cease-fire plan once again revealed the organization’s true colors: “If anyone was still in doubt about the nature this terrorist group, here’s proof again: Hamas wants more war, wants more civilian casualties, wants more rockets fired at Israel, and its plan still is to destroy the Jewish state. Here’s the difference for the world to see: Hamas’ leaders are not interested in peace, Israel’s are.”
The impression that Israel’s enemies are trying to create that there was falling international support for the Israeli campaign to protect itself from Hamas rockets was “plain wrong”, Lauder said. "I am hearing much more sympathy and understanding for Israel's right to defend itself from foreign leaders than what is being registered in the press," added the WJC president, who has worked the phones in an intensive campaign of personal diplomacy with WJC’s many contacts since the rocket crisis with Hamas erupted. "I am also hearing many, many denunciations of Hamas for its targeting of Israeli civilians and wishes that Israel eliminate the Hamas threat once and for all.”
Lauder said that he intends to bring a full report of these messages of international solidarity to government officials during WJC’s mission to Israel tomorrow and Thursday. The mission, comprising 52 international Jewish leaders from 22 countries, will tour areas under fire, and meet with senior representatives of the Israeli government, lawmakers, IDF soldiers and civilians. “We have seen an outpouring of support for WJC’s solidarity mission from the top leadership of Jewish communities around the world,” Lauder said. "World Jewry is united in its desire to stand side-by-side with Israel during this dangerous period." The mission will comprise representatives from all WJC regions: North America, South America, Europe, Euro-Asia, and Africa.
Last week, Lauder wrote a letter to UN ambassadors, EU foreign ministers, and others, telling them: “If it were your cities under attack, we know you would agree that a sovereign government has a duty to defend its citizens.”
The WJC president also criticized the UN Security Council statement on the conflict, saying: “Once again, the council failed to name the cause of this conflict, or to condemn Hamas’ actions. The UN, instead of defending the values on which the organization was founded seven decades ago, continues to blame Israel for everything and is largely silent on terror groups such as Hamas.” Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas has used the territory as a staging ground for rocket attacks, launching more than 14,000 rockets and mortar bombs.