2 weeks Ago
The recent op-ed advocating tax resistance in response to U.S. military aid to Israel lacks crucial context and overlooks the complexity of the situation in Gaza, including the history leading to this moment and Israel’s obligation to defend its citizens from existential threats posed by Hamas.
The reality is that on Oct. 7, 2023, there was a massacre, when Hamas terrorists brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis — including entire families, elderly civilians and children. Thousands more were wounded, and over 200 were taken hostage.
This was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It was not an isolated act, but part of Hamas’s declared genocidal agenda against Israel and Jews worldwide, openly stated in its charter and repeated by its leaders. Israel did not choose this war — it was forced into it.
Hamas filmed and broadcasted its atrocities and operates from within civilian infrastructure, using hospitals, schools and homes as shields while launching rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities. This tactic maximizes civilian casualties, which Hamas exploits for propaganda. Despite this, Israel takes extraordinary measures to avoid civilian harm — issuing warnings, establishing humanitarian corridors and facilitating aid — efforts often obstructed by Hamas.
Hamas has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, bringing nothing but devastation to its people. Recently, some Gazan civilians have begun speaking out, despite the danger. One such voice, Uday Rabie , was tortured and murdered by Hamas, his body left on his family’s doorstep as a warning.
Hamas’s deception is equally cruel. After originally claiming 70% of casualties were women and children, they’ve quietly revised the number — now saying 72% of fatalities are men aged 13 to 55, aligning with the demographic of combatants. U.
S. support for Israel is moral and strategic imperative. Some in this country argue that U.
S. aid enables Israeli aggression. In truth, it supports a democratic ally defending itself from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups committed not only to Israel’s destruction but to undermining Western values.
The Iron Dome missile shield intercepts rockets from Gaza; the David Sling, designed to destroy longer-range rockets, defends against threats from Yemen. U.S.
support helps save lives — Israeli and Palestinian. Moreover, Israel is America’s most reliable ally in the Middle East, providing critical intelligence, counterterrorism coordination, and technological innovation. Cutting support won’t bring peace — it would embolden extremists, destabilize the region and undermine America’s interests.
To equate Israel’s defensive war with human rights violations is to ignore both its restraint and Hamas’s atrocities. It’s a false moral equivalency that does more harm than good. Tax resistance as a moral response to the fighting in Gaza has a basic fallacy at its heart.
Unlike historic tax resistance movements that opposed offensive U.S. wars, withholding taxes over support for Israel misrepresents the nature of this conflict.
Israel’s war is not one of expansion or conquest — it is a fight for survival. If Americans truly want to help, they should support initiatives promoting peace: the unconditional release of hostages, the surrender of Hamas militants and international efforts to rebuild Gaza once the terror infrastructure is dismantled. Calling for an end to U.
S. aid while ignoring Hamas’s role in perpetuating the violence is not just misguided — it’s dishonest. The suffering of Palestinian civilians is heartbreaking — and it could end if Hamas surrendered and released the hostages.
Lasting peace will not come from weakening Israel’s ability to defend itself or emboldening a terrorist regime that sacrifices its own people for propaganda. True justice requires the dismantling of Hamas, the end of terror and a renewed commitment to a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live in security and dignity. Honest, nuanced conversations about U.
S. policy must be rooted in reality — not simplistic narratives that erase one side’s suffering while condemning the other. This is a contributed opinion column.
Aaron Gorodzinsky is the director of Campaign at the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. He has been living in the Lehigh valley for over 13 years. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
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