Here is the letter I wrote to President Obama today: Dear President Obama, I was appalled by the decision of the FAA to suspend flights into Tel Aviv. The chance of a Hamas rocket striking an airplane intentionally is minuscule. The rockets take around two minutes to travel from Gaza to Tel Aviv, and the precision targeting required to hit a moving target at that time and distance is far, far beyond the capabilities demonstrated by Hamas. The danger posed to a flight is from something like the Surface to Air missile that struck the plane in the Ukraine, and the Hamas fighter would have to be positioned along the flight path to execute such a strike. Given the beefed up Iron Dome security around the airport, it is really hard to credit safety as a reason to suspend flights. Since the FAA is far more aware of these facts that I am, I am inclined to believe that someone made the decision to ban the flights in hopes of pressuring Israel to be more flexible in the cease-fire negotiations. I find that to be appalling. This decision handed a tremendous psychological victory to Hamas, as they are able to claim that they were able to disrupt Israels economy in a tangible way. In addition, it constitutes a betrayal of Israel, and runs counter to the Presidents public statements of support for Israels obligation to defend itself against the threat of rocket and tunnel attacks. You obviously know that Israel is doing everything it can to avoid unnecessary deaths in Gaza, and it is vital that Israel end this conflict having completely undermined Hamas military capacity. Failure to do this will bolster the Hamas strategy of armed struggle, and will push the few remaining moderate Palestinians into the arms of Hamas. Only a complete military defeat of Hamas will demonstrate the failure of their strategy, and it is therefore vital that Israel be given the leeway to achieve that defeat. Putting undue economic pressure on Israel by damaging her economy through the flight ban is counterproductive. I urge the President to make a public statement to the effect that the ban was a mistake, and that, while Hamas rocket attacks are illegal and immoral, they are not, at present, effective at disrupting access to Israel via air. With best wishes, Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin Chabad at Tulane
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:33:08 +0000
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