NEW YORK – The World Jewish Congress today voiced full support for Israel as it widened “Operation Protective Edge” in response to hundreds of rockets fired at Israel by the Hamas regime in Gaza, including at least one rocket reportedly aimed at Tel Aviv.
“Israelis know that world Jewry stands side-by-side with them as work to beat back the explosive assault aimed at their cities and civilians by the terror regime which has vowed repeatedly to destroy the Jewish state,” said WJC President Ronald S. Lauder. “They have no choice but to defend their homeland and protect their citizens from enemy fire, as any sovereign nation must do.”
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas forces there have used the territory as a near-constant staging ground for rocket attacks on Israel’s south and heartland. Hamas’s latest aggression began soon after the formation of a Palestinian unity government in June and widened after the discovery last week of the bodies of three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered by Hamas last month. In recent days, Hamas rockets have hit several major cities in the south, and today Israel intercepted a rocket aimed at its commercial capital, Tel Aviv, according to press reports. The barrages have wounded several Israelis and caused property damage. The IDF began calling up 40,000 reserves today, in addition to the 1,500 called up yesterday, in preparation for further escalation.
