From the Liveblog of
Saturday, August 9, 2025
US Reform Movement protests Gaza City takeover plan, says it will cause ‘more division among world Jewry’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Reform Movement in the United States has called on Israel to end the war in Gaza following the cabinet’s approval of a plan to conquer Gaza City that has drawn opposition from the security services.
“We are deeply distressed that Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to extend Israeli control over the Gaza Strip,” the Union for Reform Judaism said in a statement yesterday, in which it “implore[d] Israel to choose life for our hostages, our soldiers, and innocent civilians in Gaza by ending — not extending — this war.”
“As Jews who believe in an Israel that aspires to be both safe and ethical, we are galvanized by the position of a growing array of Israeli military, intelligence, and political leaders and experts, as well as the clear majority of Israeli public, who warn that the Israeli government’s plan to further occupy Gaza would be a military, political, and humanitarian calamity,” the group states, warning that “the war’s expansion will likely be a death sentence for our hostages.”
Such an expansion would also harm the troops, isolate Israel internationally and cause “more division among world Jewry,” it continues, comparing the war to “the quagmires of previous military occupations by Israel in south Lebanon, and by other nations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam — all of which began with similar assurances.”
“The Israeli government has yet to offer an exit strategy or plans for ‘the day after,'” the URJ cautions, arguing that “the current occupation of part of Gaza already risks Israel’s security and international reputation, and longtime allies of Israel are this morning reacting negatively to the cabinet’s approved plan.”
“There is no question that Hamas bears the responsibility for this war, for the conditions in Gaza right now, for failing to put down its arms, for its refusal to release the hostages, and for resisting improved conditions for its people. However, Israel has the ability and responsibility to prioritize its own people and values by recognizing that now is the time to end this war, bring the hostages home, and create a coalition of Arab nations with the US and other allies to rebuild Gaza and shape a better tomorrow for all.”
The Times of Israel Community.