[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 98 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1494-E1495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ARTICLE BY RABBI ISRAEL ZOBERMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. THELMA D. DRAKE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 24, 2006

  Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call your attention to the 
following article written by my constituent, Rabbi Israel Zoberman. 
Rabbi Zoberman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim in 
Virginia Beach, VA. A son of Polish Holocaust survivors, he grew up in 
Haifa, Israel. He is past President of the Hampton Roads Board of 
Rabbis and Cantors. The article reads as follows:

       Once more I felt in the pit of my stomach that gnawing 
     sense of emptiness born of disbelief and grave concern, which 
     after all is a defense mechanism, experienced during past 
     wars and crises. My phone calls to my family in Haifa, Israel 
     have increased from Fridays to wish them a ``Shabbat Shalom'' 
     to daily contacts of empathy and support.
       My beautiful coastal Haifa, Israel's third largest city, 
     has become a deliberate target with rockets landing on Mt. 
     Carmel, not far from my sisters' homes and my parents' 
     residence where I was raised. My very pregnant niece was 
     emotionally affected and temporarily left to Tel Aviv for 
     psychological stability. Speaking to my mom, who along with 
     father are Polish Holocaust survivors, conveyed her definite 
     heightened anxiety as she faced one more challenge after 
     already much trauma, including Israel's previous wars and 
     ongoing tensions since arriving there in 1949. I've also been 
     in touch with Lebanese friends in Virginia Beach. They too 
     are affected by the disconcerting events.
       The eruption of hostilities this time followed attacks and 
     kidnappings by Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, 
     instigated by the true powers to be in Iran and Syria, and 
     lengthy rockets' firing at Israeli towns within range from 
     Gaza. It thus forced Israel's government to send a loud 
     message to those who are obstacles to the future of peace, a 
     pre-condition to Israel's very viability and survival in a 
     restive region of critical strategic importance. No state 
     would allow disruption to its citizens' lives on a scale 
     tolerated so long by Israel. Particularly for a small country 
     albeit with a capable military, such unacceptable scenario 
     becomes debilitating.
       The threat from radical Islam seeking to create a Middle 
     East a la its rejectionist ideology, sans Israel and Western 
     influence, also aims at destabilizing moderate Arab states 
     such as Egypt and Jordan which signed peace treaties with 
     Israel. Without a countervailing strong Iraq, Iran is now 
     positioned for hegemony to restore its historic preeminence 
     and emerge a global Muslim leader. It attempts to acquire 
     nuclear power as a step in this envisioned goal while led by 
     an irresponsible president who openly denies the Holocaust 
     and calls for Israel's elimination. The Palestinian Authority 
     as well as Lebanon stand to benefit from Israel's actions for 
     their own future is held hostage by their extremists. 
     Israel's response is supportive of America's heroic efforts 
     to confront terrorism world-wide, painfully introducing 
     democracy to a liberated Iraq, even though democracy's Arab 
     enemies subvert fledging democracies from within. Fighting 
     terrorists is hampered by their planting themselves among 
     civilians to take advantage of democratic nations' reluctance 
     to retaliate at random. But terrorists underestimate the will 
     of free nations to ultimately fight back in spite of 
     limitations with inevitable and regrettable losses of life 
     and property. Tragic indeed has been Lebanon's lot

[[Page E1495]]

     and inability to control Palestinian and Lebanese militants 
     who have begrudged her Western culture and delicate ethnic 
     and religious balance.
       How frustrating that despite Israel's sacrificial Gaza 
     disengagement a year ago as well as the departure from 
     southern Lebanon in 2000, with plans for the further 
     withdrawal from the West Bank to create a Palestinian state, 
     its adversaries refuse to respond in kind. Reestablishing a 
     deteriorated deterrence posture is a must for Israel's 
     security. Recently elected Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert is 
     undergoing his first major test by fire, literally, filling 
     in the big shoes of his incapacitated predecessor Ariel 
     Sharon. Sharon, the daring leader in war and peace, would 
     approve Olmert's conduct that is supported by a united 
     political front, so otherwise rare, testimony to Israel's 
     resolve to again prevail. A determined Jewish state has no 
     plans to leave its bad neighborhood, and it may yet help 
     transforming it with its essential American partner. May 
     children on both sides of Israel's borders soon be able to 
     freely play and sleep at peace.

  Rabbi Israel Zoberman, spiritual leader of Congregation of Beth 
Chaverim in Virginia Beach, grew up in Haifa, Israel.

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