MOSHE PHILLIPS -- (August 29, 2024 / JNS) More than 90 rabbis and cantors signed a letter this month to Israel’s prime minister, demanding that Israel cease firing at Hamas and release a large number of terrorists to gain the release of the hostages in the Gaza Strip. When the same clergy were asked to sign a letter calling on Qatar and Egypt to pressure Hamas to release the hostages, guess how many signed on?

Five. That’s right, just five.

The letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was organized by the “Bring Them Home Now” campaign, urged him to “finalize the deal on the table.” According to media reports, the two main components of that deal are that Israel will stop pursuing the gang rapists and baby-beheaders of Oct. 7 and will release many hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of terrorists who have murdered or attempted to murder Jews.