CHARLESTON — A West Virginia rabbi says he is devastated over attacks on Israel that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths, including hundreds of civilians.
Militants say they are holding more than 130 soldiers and citizens captive.
“The Jewish people are in mourning. People of Israel are suffering, but the Jewish people around the world and Jewish people in our community are struggling to make sense of what happened,” said Rabbi Victor Urecki, spiritual leader of B’nai Jacob Synagogue in Charleston.
“It’s a tragedy that we can’t even put into words. Saturday was one of our holiest days, the end of our High Holy Day season — and it saw the most Jews slaughtered in a single day since the Holocaust. That puts it in perspective in terms of — our hearts are breaking, we are angry, we’re upset, we feel helpless and we don’t know where to turn.”
Saturday’s early morning surprise attack included firing more than 2,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel while Hamas militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air.
Among the targets was a desert music festival, resulting in the discovery of at least 260 bodies. Raids in streets and homes resulted in more civilian deaths and kidnappings.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization that controls Gaza, said the assault was in response to a continued blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year and attacks by settlers on Palestinians.
The assault occurred on the Jewish Sabbath and coincided with the religious holiday of Simchat Torah.
Israel retaliated with massive airstrikes on Gazan cities. “Citizens of Israel, we are at war — not in an operation, not in rounds — at war,” Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a video message.
Urecki said Israel has a right to its own defense.
“No country should have to endure the terrorist acts,” Urecki said Monday on MetroNews’ “Talkline.” “Israel was attacked by a terrorist organization, and Israel has to do what it can to protect its citizens and protect its border.”
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, a 23-year Army veteran, noted the Hamas alignment with Iran.
“The common enemy they have is Israel, so they’ve united,” Warner said Monday on “Talk of the Town” on WAJR Radio. “It’s going to be interesting to see to what extent Iran was behind the funding and the planning of this attack.
“It was an incredible surprise attack — multi-disciplinary, coming from the air, sea, land, bulldozing fences. It was shockingly successful from their perspective, but I think they’re going to live to regret it. They’ve angered the tiger. Israel is not going to stand by, and we see that. They’re already doing a massive counterattack.”
The attacks occurred amid three-way negotiations between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the U.S. to establish formal relations between the kingdom and Israel.
“That’s what Iran doesn’t want,” Warner said.
