Even though the Gaza Strip offensive by Israel Defense Force’s has mashed the Hamas terror network, the victory has come at a heavy cost of lives in the IDF.
According to an article by The Times of Israel, IDF has released the names of 726 soldiers, officers, and reservists who have died beginning on Oct. 7 of last year. Of that number, more than 300 were killed on that terrible day almost one year ago.
And that's where the group Friends of the Israel Defense Forces comes in.
“This war,” says Friends CEO Rabbi Steven Weil, “has produced 200 new widows, 500 new orphans, and 1,500 siblings who lost an older brother or older sister.”
With help from generous donors in the United States, Weil says Friends has committed over $26 million to the grieving families.
Weil, a New York native, is currently the rabbi of the Beth Jacob congregation in Beverly Hills, California.
Approximately 1,200 people were killed within hours on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack across the Gaza border. In a well-planned murder spree, the terrorists attacked IDF military bases, which were sparsely guarded during the Jewish holiday. The terrorists also slaughtered entire families on sleepy kibbutz homesteads.
In some of the worst violence of the day, Hamas terrorists appeared above a music festival on paragliders before massacring hundreds of fleeing civilians below.
Hamas also retreated back to its territory with more than 250 hostages, and the IDF has been attempting to locate and rescue them every since.
Weil says the war is not dividing the Israeli people like some would expect.
“The biggest force supporting Israel right now,” he advises, “are the Sunni Muslim nations because they don't have a military that can stand up to Iran, and because they need Israel to protect them.”
Most of the terrorist Muslims are from the Shia sect.
Weil says the Biden administration's feckless foreign policy is supporting the terrorists and diminishing the United States and its standing in the region.
“And what it's done is, it's only hurt America's standing in the eyes of the Sunni Muslims,” the rabbi warns, “because they look at America as a bunch of fools.”
America is also a target of the “Death to America!” Islamic terrorists, Weil adds.
“What's standing in their way right now? A bunch of 18- to 21-year-old Jewish boys and girls,” he says. “That's what's standing in their way.”
