The world convulsed last week upon learning of the brutal assassination of staunch Israel supporter and legendary social media influencer Charlie Kirk. In response, President Donald Trump immediately asked for flags to be flown at half-staff, and lawmakers in Pennsylvania announced plans to establish “Charlie Kirk Day” as a state holiday.
However, behind the headlines was the chilling message that we live in an era of incitement. At any time a public figure can meet with an untimely and tragic death. And I have feared for quite some time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those in his cabinet that have spoken courageously about defending Israel’s right to Judea, Samaria, and East Jerusalem.
If there is one lesson to be learned from Charlie Kirk’s tragic death, it is the danger of fomenting hatred. The “Rabbis’ Letter” - orchestrated last month by Rabbi Yosef Blau and co-signed by 80 left-leaning rabbis, many of whom on the fringes of mainstream Orthodoxy (i.e. members of Open Orthodoxy, including 20 female rabbis, prohibited in halakhic Orthodoxy) - broadcast patent falsehoods about Gaza food distribution and settler actions to defend themselves against savage attacks on their lives and their property.
Leiter, having lost his own son, Major Moshe Leiter, killed while fighting in Gaza, released a letter last week reproaching the signatories of the Rabbis’ letter. He exclaimed: “Your statement not only reflects a severe unfamiliarity with the facts, but also relies on the lies of our worst enemies.”
Citing Israeli intelligence - and also confirmed by UN monitoring sites - Leiter showed that 90% of humanitarian aid is commandeered by Hamas, which diverts the food and medical supplies to the black market, imposes taxes and fees, and infiltrates aid organizations. Yet, the Rabbis’ letter shamelessly laid blame at the feet of the IDF, the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Fund), and the Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora.
Not surprisingly, the letter smacked of a political agenda, as pointed out by Leiter himself. He explained that by combining the humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza with a censorious attack on the 'settlers', it was a way “to delegitimize Israel” because the “motivation behind the letter was political.” Shortly after the Rabbis’ letter appeared in the liberal Jewish media, it suddenly found a home on page A6 of the New York Times. Under the provocative heading, “Rabbis Emerge as Growing Voice of Criticism of Israel’s Actions,” the Rabbis’ letter fed into the incendiary anti-Israel political climate suffusing New York City - with pro-BDS Muslim mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric rise in the polls.
Certainly, the timing of the story on the Rabbis’ letter in the New York Times would help to persuade voters to turn their back on Israel - and cast their vote for an outright enemy of the Jewish state - because this group of 80 rabbis (though mostly if not entirely outliers) themselves were accusing Israel of shameful behavior. Likewise, the Rabbis’ letter would serve to encourage fury in Israel toward the government - anger whose consequences can tragically lead G-d forbid to a “Charlie Kirk” reprise.
Leiter’s letter, as reported last week in the Jerusalem Post, concluded with a reprimand: “As Israel fights for survival on seven fronts, faces international pressure, and leads historic changes in the Middle East for security and stability, this is the time to support Israel’s elected government and the people of Israel, not to conduct political criticism rooted in blatant ignorance of the facts. You should apologize.”
There is merit to Leiter’s admonitions. In fact, he is not alone in his criticism of the Rabbis’ letter. The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), which represents over 2000 mainstream Orthodox rabbis, collected twice as many cosignatories as Rabbi Blau’s letter, within a very short window of time. CJV clearly pointed out that the signatories to the Rabbis’ letter were significantly outside the pale of mainstream Orthodoxy and have been rejected by Orthodox groups around the world because they do not comport themselves “in accordance with Torah.”
Not mincing words, the CJV letter rebutted Rabbi Blau’s assertions head on: “By amplifying Hamas’s narrative, even unintentionally, moral critiques can become moral liabilities. To accuse Israel of moral failure while she sacrifices her soldiers, who risk and give their lives to minimize civilian harm, is an inversion of truth and justice.”
We need both an apology and an affirmative about-face. The damage of the Rabbis’ letter is obscured by the fact that during the turmoil of war, especially fighting on so many fronts at once, one does not have the luxury of visual acuity to assess the effects of a traitorous, insurrectionist letter whose signatories have not shied away from speaking to the press. It cannot be underestimated that the timing of the Rabbis’ letter coincided with the IDF’s announcement last month of its intent to call up 60,000 reservists to serve in the major effort to take over Gaza City, which houses the Hamas infrastructure. The letter gave confidence to those on the left who wished to encourage soldiers to defy the IDF orders.
In fact, Rabbi Blau’s letter was released shortly before the major anti-war demonstration, referred to as a “Day of Disruption,” which blocked roads in Tel Aviv and elsewhere and called for the war to end. The Rabbis’ letter gave credence to all those who flirted with defiance of military orders when called up to serve. Using the imprimatur of religious sanctity, this group of Orthodox outliers had de facto given license to Israeli reservists to commit mutiny against the Jewish state - tragically at a time when Israel must fight for its existential survival. Luckily, that did not happen.
I cannot rest until there is a public retraction of the baseless accusations in the Rabbis’ letter. I call upon Rabbi Blau, a member of mainstream Orthodoxy who held a prestigious position at Yeshiva University, aand who organized and spearheaded this insidious effort to sow dissent among Jews - which has provided ammunition for Hamas propagandists, grist for the divisive New York City mayoral race, and fodder for a society prone to inciting violence - to redress this wrongdoing before its consequences prove irreversible.
Amy Neustein,Ph.D. (Sociology) is the author/editor of 16 academic books. Her edited volume, Forensic Speaker Recognition: Law Enforcement and Counter-Terrorism (Springer 2012), is used by US government intelligence agencies to train their agents in finding suspects. Her two most recent books, From Madness to Mutiny and Moral Schisms will be published by Oxford University Press.