A Statement from Reform Movement Institutions (excerpted)
Temple Beth Shalom is a URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) synagogue and shares the URJ vision and path toward “…a future in which children can grow in peace…the safety and vitality of the Jewish people, the swift return home of all the hostages held in Gaza, and a secure and just state of Israel – now and forever.
“Our commitment to a strong, vibrant, Jewish and democratic state of Israel, secure within its borders, is unyielding. The October 7th attacks and subsequent war have made unequivocally clear the existential threats facing Israel.”
Even as URJ describes and deplores the heinous Hamas attacks of October 7th and calls on Israel's government to “do all it can to ensure
the hostages' swift and safe deliverance from Hamas's nefarious hands..." our ethics demand that "...as Jews, we reject [Hamas'] dehumanization of the "other" including Palestinians…we agonize over the many thousands of Palestinian civilians, including large numbers of women and children, who have died and been wounded in this conflict…over the nearly 2 million displaced people who are unable to obtain life essentials...”
TBS supports the URJ advocacy of actions that include Palestinian self-determination and self-governance - Cessation of incitement to violence, racism, and use of dehumanizing language against Palestinians by government ministers and others -Forcefully addressing settler violence against Palestinians - Commitment to end the occupation - Halting the construction of West Bank settlements - Rejecting any Jewish resettlement in Gaza - Opposing any efforts toward unilateral annexation by Israel of areas of the West Bank.
“In this darkest of times, we remain committed to a resolution of the conflict that will ensure Israel's security and allow for Palestinian self-determination and self-governance…We are committed to the safety and vitality of the Jewish people, the swift return home of all the hostages held in Gaza, and a secure and just state of Israel - now and forever.”
For the full URJ Statement, including non-military steps Israel can and must take for Israel’s future security, click here.