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Email: legclerk@co.rockland.ny.us

 Statement By Rockland County Legislator Itamar Yeger
On Israel’s Strike On Iran’s Nuclear Weapons’ Capabilities

“During World War II, Nazi Germany and its allies in Europe gassed, shot and cremated over 6 million Jews and did similarly to untold others as part of its plan to eradicate Jews from the face of the Earth. The plan was set forth years before the war in Adolf Hitler’s book. Some people, like my father’s mother, read it, believed it and acted on it. My grandmother convinced her family to leave Europe and flee to Jerusalem, in what became the State of Israel.

“My grandfather’s family was not so lucky.  My grandfather made his way to Jerusalem in 1936. His family never made it. With transit to other countries foreclosed by their  anti-Semitism, Jews remained stuck in Europe  to  face  slaughter  by  the  Nazis  and  their  allies  and  friends.  According  to  my  grandfather,  he  lost hundreds of relatives. His entire nuclear family died in the gas chambers and ovens of Treblinka - faceless, nameless, without even a tattoo on their arms to remind them of the atrocities and cruelty to the Jews. Only he remained to rebuild his family. Of the remaining Jews in Europe, many ended up in what is now the State of Israel.

“When Jews say, ‘Never Again,’ it means more to them than it does to those who cannot understand or share the experience that Jews have collectively experienced during the course of our long exile. Dispersed amongst the Nations, Jews have been murdered, exiled and impoverished repeatedly. With no country to call our own, our history is replete with running from one place to another or, even worse, simply burying our dead, slaughter after slaughter.

“This is no longer the case. Israel provides Jews with sanctuary, a place to go no matter where they came from. The proof is the difference between Jews during WWII and Jews from Arab countries. European Jews in WWII had nowhere to go. But after 1948, when Arab countries expelled their Jews in their hundreds of thousands and forced them to leave with only the clothing on their back, most of those Jews ended up in the nascent state of Israel.

“Israel is now a powerhouse of cutting-edge research in science, medicine, agriculture and technology. It contributes mightily to the world's well-being, and every human on the planet - even its enemies - benefits from Israeli inventions and know-how.

“It  took  until  late  2012 or  early  2013,  but  the  state  of  Israel’s  Jewish  population  finally  surpassed  the  6 million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust. The cries ring out regularly, including at military induction ceremonies  at  Masada,  the  site  of  the  last  organized  Jewish  resistance  to  Roman  destruction  in  the  1st century CE: ‘NEVER AGAIN!’

“Well, never again is now. Iran, a radical Islamic State, has, since its inception in 1979, threatened Israel with destruction. Israel does not have the luxury of disbelieving a country that tortures and murders its own citizens and spreads terrorism and fear throughout the world. Early this  morning  Israeli time, the Israeli Defense Forces attacked Iran. If initial reports are correct, they decapitated Iran’s upper military echelon and  killed  numerous  nuclear  scientists. Israel’s  precision  strikes  destroyed or  severely  damaged  Iran’s defensive capabilities, aircrafts, and its nuclear sites.

“According  to Prime Minister  Benyamin  Netanyahu,  Israel  struck  because  Iran  was  on  the  threshold  of becoming a nuclear weapons power. He understands that never again means never  again.  Israel will not wait for others to save it. Jews understand as much as any other group that we must save ourselves.

“As  a  proud  first  generation  American,  I  want  to  personally  thank  those  in  the  United  States,  my  home country, who have supported Israel in both word and deed. The United States has been a true friend to Israel since before I was born. It is comforting to know that correct thinking Americans on both the right and the left support  Israel’s right to defend itself. Of course, striking  Iran is more than just simple defense, it is existential. Two or three nuclear weapons exploding in Israel would wipe out the dream and promise of a sanctuary for Jews.

“My brother and his nuclear family, including his children and grandchildren, all live in various parts of Israel. I have many other relatives and friends who live there. For me ‘never again,’ as applied to the State of Israel, is personal. I am grateful to the Friends of Israel in this country and elsewhere in the world.

“To those in this country and others who are busy attacking Israel for doing what it needs to in order to merely exist, I say to you: you have no right or authority to tell Jews when or how to live or die. You are the spiritual inheritors of the Nazis and those in the United States, Britain, Canada, France, and other places who refused entry to Jews in WWII. You are the descendants of those who let Jews die rather than take them in when they came to you on ships or planes, begging for refuge. Your giving aid and comfort to the enemies of democracy and freedom will be remembered by history. But congratulations! You don’t have to take care of the Jews - we will gladly do it ourselves, in the United States and Israel, whether you let us or not.

“NEVER AGAIN!”

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