(RNS) — Last week, a few score Orthodox Jewish rabbis joined a growing number of rabbinic groups in expressing distress at the situation in Gaza. Good for them.
In their respective statements, each group makes a point of blaming Hamas in no uncertain terms. Easy enough to do, but right and proper. What has elicited the statements, however, is the behavior of the Israeli government in causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Gazan civilians by military action and denial of humanitarian aid.
How each group holds the government to account is where the rubber hits the road. Here’s what we’ve got:
Orthodox rabbis: “Israel’s prolonged military campaign, now approaching two years, has devastated Gaza. The death toll is rising with very significant losses of lives, and Israel’s limiting of humanitarian aid, at times completely halting the entry of food and medical supplies, has raised the specter of coming starvation. We affirm that Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation.”
The Rabbinical Assembly (U.S. Conservative rabbinate): “The Jewish tradition calls upon us to ensure the provision of food, water, and medical supplies as a top priority. Aid agencies, the United Nations, and the Israeli government must act swiftly to distribute supplies currently stalled at the border so they reach the civilians who so desperately need them.”
Union for Reform Judaism: “More than a few members of the current Israeli government have publicly called for Israel to decimate the Gaza strip. … Despite PM [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s calls to ignore these full members of his cabinet, their presence in this government has consistently morally compromised Israel’s actions. … It’s imperative that the Government of Israel ensures that the recently announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid succeed.”
Yazan Abu Ful, a 2-year-old malnourished boy, stands shirtless for a photo at his family’s home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, July 23, 2025. In Gaza, malnutrition is often worsened by preexisting conditions and compounded by illnesses linked to inadequate health care and poor sanitation, largely the result of the ongoing war. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Liberal rabbis from around the world: “We cannot condone the mass killings of civilians, including a great many women, children and elderly, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war. … Repeated statements of intention and actions by ministers in the Israeli government, by some officers in the Israeli army, and the behaviour of criminally violent settler groups in the West Bank, often with police and military support, have been major factors in bringing us to this crisis.”
Rabbis for Human Rights: “This brutal plan [to “conquer” Gaza] shows the disregard for human life which has characterized the policies throughout the war.”
But what about the man most responsible for the Israeli devastation? This, from the Orthodox rabbis, is the closest any of the statements comes to criticizing him: “Amid this devastation, the absence of a clear post-war vision from Prime Minister Netanyahu has allowed the most extreme voices in the Israeli government — including ministers from the religious Zionist community — to fill the vacuum with disturbing proposals.”
Perhaps the rabbis meant to allude to a famous line from the Bible’s Book of Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Regardless, is that really the best they could do when it comes a leader who is credibly understood to want to prolong the war as long as possible to prevent a commission of inquiry into the events of Oct. 7, to stay in power at all costs and to avoid going to prison for corruption?
Hundreds of thousands of citizens are marching in Israel to protest Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war and negotiate the return of the remaining hostages. Stern criticism of his Gaza policy has come from Israeli military and intelligence leaders.
In short, the rabbis are hardly voices crying in the wilderness. And there’s plenty of prophetic precedent for not mincing words when it comes to heads of state.
“You are the man,” the Prophet Nathan tells King David. “Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?”
“Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel,” declares Micah. “Should you not embrace justice, you who hate good and love evil.”
Bibi deserves no less.
