A Call for Ending Starvation in Gaza

By Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD, AJRCA President Emeritus

The following is a transcript of a speech given by Rabbi Mel Gottlieb on August 25, 2025 outside the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles.

**The views expressed here do not reflect a position of The Academy for Jewish Religion California and are exclusively the opinion of its author**

After 689 days of the war and the deaths of over 60,000 Gazans (80% of whom were civilians), and 1,984 Israeli soldiers in Gaza, it is past time to end the war!

After 689 days of war it is time to bring home the remaining 50 hostages still held by Hamas!

After 689 days of war it is time to end the starvation and malnutrition of children in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza in the most efficient way possible without obstacles.

After 689 days of war it is unconscionable for the 1.2 million of Palestinians who live in Gaza city to now be told they must leave their homes.

Last year my wife and I stood with thousands of Israelis for three consecutive Saturday nights in Tel Aviv protesting to end the war and free the hostages, and yet the government, despite the voices of prominent Israeli IDF commanders opposing the continuing of the war, remained firm in continuing the carnage.

Over 600 retired military officials have said Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israel and question what military objective the slaughter and starvation of the vast population of Palestinians in Gaza achieves.

Hamas’s unwillingness to surrender cannot justify what Israel has done and is doing in Gaza. The killing of an estimated 18,000 children, the leveling of entire neighborhoods, the resulting starvation and destruction of hospitals and schools; over 70% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed and trying to dismiss hunger in Gaza is a denial of a shameful reality.

While it is absolutely true that Hamas has committed egregious war crimes, war crimes by one side in a conflict does not justify the overwhelming onslaught and disproportionate bombing injuring an entire population by another and just because the world does not protest the slaughter and pillaging in other parts of the world such as in Ethiopia, nor protest the people dying of famine in Sudan, this does not give an excuse to inflict the suffering and slaughter that we witness in Gaza.

Our Jewish community has expressed our deep anguish at the barbaric treatment of our beloved hostages by Hamas, and stands in deep solidarity with the pain and suffering of Israeli families stunned on a daily basis as their children are sent off to war, as they live through sleepless nights with worry and insecurity and anger and trauma from both the past and present. But many of us have failed to feel the deep anguish of the Palestinian people whose losses of innocent children pierce their hearts with pain, agony, and excruciating wounding. Both Israelis and Palestinians live within this orbit of deep suffering. Both Israeli and Palestinian children are beloved in the eyes of G-d. If we only care about the human rights of Israelis and neglect the compassion we must feel for the Palestinians we are lacking in moral stature, hardening our hearts , and creating shame in the soul of the Jewish tradition and its people, and tears in the angels above and in the heart of G-d.

Our Sages teach, ‘To save one life it is as if we have saved the whole world, and to destroy one life it is as if we have destroyed the world.’ Every human life (be it Israeli or Palestinian) is precious as a child of G-d, and must be treasured, respected, protected, and given the rights that every human being deserves and is entitled to.

Our moral responsibilities must also carry over to Palestinians who dwell on the West Bank. Instead of tearing down their trees, we must help them plant trees; instead of hindering their water supply, we must share the abundant blessings that we possess. The violent behavior of some of the settlers is a desecration of G-d’s name and the ignoring of this baseless behavior is a stain on our humanity.

Friends, today is Rosh Chodesh Elul, a time to repent our evil ways and come closer to the wellspring of love that we all possess. Our sages teach us that this month is a time of return – teshuva – to the path of righteousness. The word teshuva means to return, to return to our fellow human beings with love, to return to G-d, to take responsibility for our wrongdoings, confess them and make amends to those whom we have harmed. It is an appropriate time to reach out to our fellow Palestinian neighbors, to do teshuva with them and not to repeat the egregious behavior of these past years. It is time to reach out to our communities and leaders to join together in the path of peace, of shalom. and not only are we charged to make amends, but we must also plan concretely and thoughtfully a path of peace and justice for all; one that makes sense and is workable through our hard work and faith in the core values of our tradition. our torah commands us to make enemies into friends.

Our sages teach us that one of the many names of G-d is ‘Shalom.’ Our Torah gives us the values and practices to create a world of Shalom. As we read in proverbs 3:17 in our prayer service, ‘darkhainu darkhei noam v’chol netivoteha shalom.’ ‘Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.’

Let us join together and make this world of peace in this coming year and let us say amen!