The Importance of 10/7 During the Holiest of Days

The Importance of 10/7 During the Holiest of Days
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 26, 2024

“On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.” 

These words are part of the solemn High Holy Days liturgy “Unetanneh Tokef,” (Let us express the mighty holiness of this day) a most powerful poem credited to the martyr Rabbi Amnon of Maintz more than 800 years ago. The advent of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year observing the Day of Creation of the World, or the Birthday of the World, ushers in a 10 day period of spiritual introspection and repentance culminating with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

In part, the poem asks unanswerable questions that are more than thought provoking about the existence of man in G-d’s world.

“On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
How many shall pass on, and how many shall be born;
Who shall live, and who shall die;
Who in his time, and who before his time;
Who by fire, and who by water;
Who by sword, and who by beast;
Who by hunger, and who by thirst;
Who by storm, and who by plague…;
Who shall rest, and who shall wander…;
Who shall be at peace, and who shall suffer;
Who shall become poor, and who shall become rich;
Who shall fall, and who shall rise.
But repentance, prayer, and charity revoke the evil decree.” (www.Chabad.org) 

This passionate poem was penned during a dark time for the Jewish people, rife with antisemitism, forced conversions, pogroms, and massacres. More than a thousand years later the Jewish people are once again being confronted with unprovoked massacres, deadly assaults, kidnappings, rapes, bombings, and college campus antisemitism that has reached a level heretofore not seen before. We approach the first year remembrance of the dastardly acts perpetrated against the Jewish people on October 7, 2023 in Israel right between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

For many, October 7, 2023 will be remembered with the same reverence and magnitude as September 11, 2001 - its heinousness as barbaric as September 11, and with an even greater proportionality than September 11. That’s how horrific and diabolical October 7 is felt in Israel, and quite frankly amongst Jews the world over, as well as the Christians who support Israel.

On that clear Shabbat morning, Hamas, a Gaza-based terrorist organization, funded and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran invaded Israel unprovoked and slaughtered upwards of 1,200 innocent children, women, and men. This would be the largest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust of European Jewry. Hamas terrorists launched a surprise, sneak attack from Gaza across the border into southern Israel. Hamas perpetrated ground attacks on Ashkelon, Be’ eri, Erez Crossing, Kfar Aza,  Magen, Nir Am, Nir Oz, Ofakim, Re’ im Army Base, Sderot, and Zikim Base. Additional assaults found their targets in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, and Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, as well as Be’ er Sheva, Kerem Shalom, Kibbutz Re’ im, Kibbutz Sufa, Kissufim, Nahal Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Yakhini. Within 24 hours the militant, radical, Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah launched a dozen rockets into Israel from Lebanon. To date, Hezbollah has launched more than 10,000 rockets at Israel. This is now a three front conflagration with Hezbollah attacking from the north along with Hamas invading from the Gaza Strip, and the Houthis from the east. 

Kfar Aza saw perhaps the most unconscionable measure of depravity one could imagine - or not imagine - 40 babies slaughtered, many beheaded - decapitated, left strewn about, among the more than 200 corpses discovered by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Some of the parents witnessed the executions of their babies, just before Hamas terrorists killed those very parents. More stories of man’s inhumanity to man could be witnessed on the very videos shot by the Hamas terrorists themselves as acts of pride. (It seems Hamas took a page out of the Nazis playbook as there are films of Nazis slaughtering Jews en masse.) Entire families burned alive. A murdered woman with her newborn baby still attached to the mother’s umbilical cord could be found. These reports were multi-sourced. 

Israeli soldiers invited the media to bear witness to the unspeakable carnage and report the truth. A truth including what many said featured the “smell of death.” Additional atrocities as reported by i24 News Israel included 70 Hamas terrorists butchering their way through a town of 700. And the taking of hostages - women and children of all ages from infants to the elderly and infirmed in wheelchairs, even an 85 year old Holocaust survivor - victimized again, for the second time in her life, this time by Palestinian Nazis.

Videos of kidnappings, shootings - bodies found with a dozen, 20, or more bullet holes. These Hamas terrorists kept killing the Israelis even after they were dead. These soulless ghouls pulling people out of their vehicles, invading their homes, dragging people out of their beds, conducting house to house and apartment to apartment searches reminiscent of the methodical searches for Jewish people masterminded by the Nazis during the Holocaust. And there was the wanton massacre of 260 young people simply attending and enjoying a music festival in the Negev Region near Kibbutz Re’ im as bullets rained down upon them.

Israel does not start wars, but Israel will do everything necessary to ensure its survival. The day Israel loses a war, is the day Israel ceases to exist. Israelis would prefer not to enter into armed conflict. They don’t suffer from the same maniacal bloodlust as Hamas, Hezbollah, Isis, the Taliban, the Houthis, and al-Qaeda, among, sadly, many others who have mastered deviance and moral turpitude to an art form.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said it best more than 50 years ago. “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” Meir’s sentiment continues to ring true in 2024.

This should not be political, but Kamala Harris and most of the Congressional Democrats have made this political - supporting Hamas, demanding a ceasefire from Israel specifically, condemning Israel for killing Palestinians, and not giving enough aid to the Gazans. There continues to be a double standard where Israel is concerned. Only Israel provides humanitarian aid and warns their enemies of pending retaliatory military strikes. What other nation at war behaves with such benevolence? And yet, the so-called squad and myriad Democrats have, time and time again, consistently voted against support of Israel, and even against condemning antisemitism. 

Israel stands for, and desires peace. “Israel was attacked on October 7 by Hamas, and October 8 by Hezbollah. Israel never would have fired a single rocket, or shot, or killed a single person in Gaza or in Lebanon if they [Israel] hadn’t been attacked,” said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tis past week. “Israel chooses the blessing of peace,” he added.

This should not be political, but Harris and her far left Democrats have supported the  egregious antisemitism on numerous college campuses. Jewish students and even faculty are not safe on or near their campuses. Harris has said she understands the emotions of the Hamas supporters, the antisemites, the anti-Zionists - they burn both American and Israeli flags as they parade around campus chanting “death to America, death to Israel,” as well as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” These are serious threats against Jewish students on campus, and Jewish communities at-large.

This should not be political, but it is when supporting a two-state solution is supporting terrorism and the right of terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, to continue in their quests, as written in their charters, calling for the evisceration of Israel and the slaughter of the Jewish people. Hamas vowed after October 7 that there would be not 10, not 100, but 1,000 more October sevens. When terrorists speak of their plans of death and destruction, take them at their word. It’s ironic that when Israel rejects a two-state solution they get lambasted by the Biden-Harris administration, the progressives, and the media. Yet when the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis reject a two-state solution, which to them means the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jewish people, nary a word of pushback is uttered.

This should not be political, but it is when Harris and others say they support the right of Israel to defend itself, but want to handcuff that defense. Threatening to withhold vital military aid is not evidence of supporting Israel’s right of self defense. Israel is a sovereign nation and does not need permission to defend itself. It is political when Harris and the Democrats demand that defense be tempered and scaled back. Was the October 7 invasion of Israel and slaughter of 1,200 innocent men, women, and children tempered or scaled back?

Immediately following the Hamas incursion of Israel there was a global demand for a ceasefire. A ceasefire existed on October 6, until violated by Hamas with its invasion of Israel and massacre of 1,200 people and the taking of more than 250 hostages, many of whom are dead or status unknown. The hostages, like the murdered, are from the United States, Israel, and dozens of other countries. And let the record show, Hamas has rejected all overtures for a ceasefire, and Hezbollah is now also rejecting calls for a ceasefire.

This should not be political, but it is, as on the American homefront, the war initiated by Hamas is a key debating point in the campaign for president between former president Donald Trump and VP Harris. Trump is a proven strong supporter of Israel as evidenced through his words and deeds, while Harris offers campaign rhetoric and lip-service in a failed attempt to placate both Jewish and Muslim voters.

And as the campaign presses on toward November 5, Jewish communities are observing the first High Holy Days since October 7, 2023. Shuls/synagogues have typically been protected for a number of years now during this period of high traffic at shuls by visible law enforcement. (Thank them for their presence while heading into services.) Unfortunately the shuls, Chabads, and campus Hillels must take extra precautions to keep their students and buildings safe. Students must not allow themselves to be intimidated or prevented by protesters from entering these buildings to observe the High Holy Days. These protesters - some fellow students, some imported agitators - are ignorant of the truth and real history.

This period of introspection and repentance must not be marred anywhere by protesters. The protesters certainly have the right of free speech, as afforded by the First Amendment. They do not have the right to elevate that speech to threats of violence or actual violence. They do not have the right to prevent anyone from freely observing their faith. Shortly after these 10 days of solemnity there is another nine days for Sukkot, the celebration of the harvest where people enjoy their meals in a festive hut, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah which celebrates the completion of the yearly cycle of the Torah, and immediately begins anew, reading the first portion of the Torah, and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Anyone and everyone participating in these observances and celebrations must be able to do so unmolested by protesters in a free and open manner without fear of retribution or for one’s safety and well being. Let not the United States of America become Germany in 1938.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Trump's 2nd Would Be Assassin Nabbed - Dems Victim Blame

Trump’s 2nd Would Be Assassin Nabbed - Dems Victim Blame
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 17, 2024

For the second time in 64 days former President Donald Trump’s life stood in the crosshairs of a would be assassin. Fortunately no harm came to the former president, but the hypocritical Democrats or Hypocrats, have been victim blaming since news broke from Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday September 15.

In the ultimate victim blaming, so-called journalists on MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” asked if the TRUMP team would finally tone down the rhetoric and violence. The Trump team is not promoting violence - political or otherwise nor are they prompting anti-Trump behavior. Both would be assassins - on July 13, and September 15 voiced anti-Trump sentiments in one form or another, clearly influenced by the Democrats. Apparently it’s more than acceptable to victim blame when it fits the liberal, progressive, Democrat narrative. Otherwise, they are the first to shame the shamers.

“Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy and our most fundamental freedoms,” said Democrat nominee for president Kamala Harris on July 24.

“Are they [Trump and JD Vance] a threat to democracy? Yes? Are they going to take our rights away? Yes,” said Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), nominee for vice president, on July 27 in St. Cloud, MN.

“He’s [Trump] a genuine danger to American security,” said Joe Biden. He also said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” during a private telephone call with donors, just days before the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump. Of course nothing remains private for long in the world of politics, and such words could be terribly influential to a would-be assassin.

“He [Trump] is destructive to our democracy and has to be eliminated,” said US Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) on “The Inside Interview” on MSNBC in November 2023. That is most certainly an emboldening statement offered by the Congressman.

Donald Trump is not the threat to democracy as so many Democrats claim. They are simply deflecting off of themselves, as it is the Democrat Party that is the true threat to “democracy.” (The United States is a republic.) Consider that the Democrats selected, not elected, their party’s nominee - Kamala Harris - a person who entered not a single Democrat primary, who earned not a single vote during said primaries. Harris received a modern day coronation after participating in the palace coup that removed Biden from his candidacy.

In addition to the incendiary language used against Trump by a number of very high ranked Democrats, there has been a breach in security provided by the Secret Service, which falls into the rather incapable hands of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Secret Service handled the first assassination attempt with all the skill and ineptitude of the Keystone Kops. Yet, it turned out to be no laughing matter, as in addition to Trump getting shot, two other rally attendees suffered wounds, and a third, retired firefighter Corey Comperatore suffered fatal wounds while protecting his family at the rally in Pennsylvania. 

Trump’s security detail should have been doubled, tripled, whatever it takes to keep a presidential candidate alive and free to travel the country from coast to coast campaigning before the American people. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw should have been fired following the potential assassination at Trump International for glibly saying that Trump is not the current president and thus has all the protection he needs. If the events of the last two months are any indication, Trump clearly lacks the security he requires, and as a veteran sheriff, Bradshaw should know  better.

Adding insult to injury, as if the tendentious remarks made by myriad Democrats weren’t enough, many more are suggesting that Trump should be limited in his travels and especially his outdoor activities. Of course they want Trump as incapacitated and inconvenienced as much as possible to keep him off the campaign trail, to prevent him from holding the enormous rallies that are so popular with his supporters. These Democrats want Trump to hunker in the bunker, a la Biden in 2020. The only difference being Biden wanted to hide in the basement and run out the clock. That is not how Trump operates. Witness, following the debate on September 10, while Harris attended a debate party, Trump took to the spin room in a very unprecedented manner, and fielded questions from the media.

Trump requires as much security as any sitting president would command, after all, Trump is a former president, making his circumstances a bit more extraordinary, something Bradshaw should have remembered when suggesting Trump had all the security he needed. And not because it is Trump. All major party candidates for president should have as much security as is necessary to keep them properly protected. This is not about Trump - this is about the sanctity of the American electoral process. We the people, as Americans, don’t go around eliminating political rivals - assassinating political leaders. This is the United States of America. Not Haiti, not Libya, not Guinea-Bissau, not Serbia and Montenegro, not Nepal, not the Democratic Republic of the Congo - all of which have seen their leaders assassinated this century.

This is the United States of America - the supposed leader of the free world - the nation by which all others measure their freedoms, rights, and body politic - a republic with supposedly free and fair elections, not some banana republic floating around the deepest recesses of some enormous body of water. After the first assassination attempt, the Democrats, at their convention in August, at the very least, their nominees Harris and Walz should have expressed thankfulness that Trump is alive and physically well and that political violence has no place in the United States; lead by example in front of the thousands of convention partisans and the millions watching around the country. 

Harris and Walz failed to seize the moment for a conciliatory gesture. Instead they continue to lead by antagonistic, contentious, and truculent language creating a more divisive union - the same brand of divisiveness the Democrats employ via DEI and CRT in the workplace and the schools. And these are just some of the myriad reasons Donald Trump must be returned to the White House. The people have to deliver a strong message that they will not be intimidated, nor will they succumb to the lies, half truths, and misinformation spread by a party and people so desperate to retain their power even at the risk of permanently destroying the union.

Abraham Lincoln, in his 1838 speech before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois spoke of a potential downfall of the republic. “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

As a nation, the United States of America is at a crossroads. It is up to we the people, in the quadrennial occasion of our presidential election to determine the direction the nation will traverse - maintaining the republic or a more sinister direction toward our own destruction led by hypocrites who are the true threat to the future of America. Look at the records of the last two administrations - they speak for themselves. The time is now as the Ronald Reagan campaign said in 1980, as it also asked the people if they were better off than they were four years prior. Reagan helped make America great again then, and Trump can help Make America Great Again now.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

9/11 at 23 - Are We Too Far Removed?

9/11 at 23 - Are We Too Far Removed? 
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 6, 2024

On Wednesday, September 11, for the 23rd consecutive year the names of the 2,977 innocent souls, murdered by 19 Islamic extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the express purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic, will be read.

The reading of those names will only be interrupted by the peal of bells serving as a reminder of the exact time the deeds of unconscionable evil were perpetrated. But most of us need no reminder - we bore witness to these homicidal tragedies, lost friends and/or loved ones. Undoubtedly there isn’t a person who was alive on that fateful September 11, 2001 who hasn’t a connection to that day and who doesn’t carry the scars of history with them.

For the 23rd year we will, and we must, pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Islamic extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.

But are we too far removed from that calamitous and fateful day?

On August 23, 2023 DailyMail.com reported that the “architect of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and fellow co-conspirators may be spared the death penalty under a new plea deal being considered by the federal government.” They would plead guilty - actually admit their guilt in exchange for having their lives spared.

Just a couple weeks shy of a year later, this plea deal, which still had not yet been resolved, ended up on the cutting room floor, thanks to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Friday, August 2 of this year, Austin “issued a terse memo canceling the agreement prosecutors had concluded was the best - and perhaps only - way to resolve a case marred by allegations that the U.S. tortured the defendants. The deal would have kept the defendants in prison for life, taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas,” according to The Wall Street Journal (08/05/24) Is it more important to get an admission of guilt and keep these miserable excuses for human flesh alive? And on the backs of the American taxpayers? In revoking the agreement, Austin stated the three would, in fact, face the death penalty - as they should, especially after 23 years of life beyond that which their victims have been denied.

Yet, also according to The Wall Street Journal, “the defendants have at times claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks.” (08/05/24) 

These criminal terrorists have been given more rights than they gave their victims. This legal minutiae and a game of legal Twister© has contorted and even mocked the judicial system in the face of protecting the so-called rights of admitted terrorists; of admitted murderers. This alleged treatment of the admitted terrorists is what initially prompted the plea deal. If they have already admitted to their heinous acts under alleged questionable circumstances, what makes this deal acceptable simply because they admit guilt before a military tribunal? Guilty is guilty. If the terrorists have admitted guilt on more than one occasion, a plea deal should never have been entertained in the first place.

How, after 23 years, are any of these stains on humanity still breathing air? Walid Bin Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawasawi, and of course Mohammed should have been executed two decades ago. Instead, we the people, the American taxpayers, have spent millions and millions of dollars keeping these G-dless bastards alive, fed, and reasonably comfortable. All while the families of the 2,977 victims continue to mourn and grieve their loved ones as this gaping wound remains open, still fresh, and astoundingly painful.

“When we tell the world that America is not prepared to bring justice against terrorists, we’re going to get more terror,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Fox News Live, August 3. “Just like when we trade terrorists for hostages, we’re going to get more American hostages. These things are all deeply connected. The bad guys can see weakness, and they smell it today - and we’re in a dangerous place the next few months with President Biden,” said Pompeo, who served during the Trump administration.

A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and                 Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

        8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by         five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the                tower instantly. 

9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by            five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the            tower instantly. 

9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks.                  “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim         extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian                personnel on the ground.

        9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800            civilians and first responders are murdered. 

10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and           crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the                 murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from                         Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. 

10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

        10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians             and first responders are murdered. 

8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

Tunnel to Towers (www.t2t.org) is a most worthy charity which to contribute. Frank Siller is the founder and Chairman/CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Frank’s youngest brother, Stephen, served as a firefighter who, having just come off the previous night’s shift, heard about the towers being struck and he did what any loyal firefighter would do - headed right back to work. Upon reaching the closed to traffic Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Stephen Siller strapped on his gear and ran the remaining three kilometers through that tunnel. He successfully made one trip in and out of the South Tower. Unfortunately, his second trip into the South Tower was less successful. Stephen Siller, 34, was one of more than 330 firefighters to lose their lives on and since September 11, 2001.

I do not work for the charity. I do not benefit in any way from this charity other than to know that as a contributor, my donation and yours, should you make one, is used at a rate of 95.1 percent for the programs, such as paying the mortgages of disabled first responders and veterans, along with those of the widows and widowers of first responders and veterans. Don’t take my word for it - visit www.charitynavigator.org. 

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a Blessing. This must never be forgotten.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon. His annual 9/11 column is dedicated to the memory of the 2,977 murdered that day and the hundreds who have died since due to its unhealthy aftermath.

IDF Recovers Bodies of Six More Hostages

IDF Recovers Bodies of Six More Hostages
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 1, 2024

With much sadness, but little surprise, the deaths of six hostages held in Gaza, including one American, are confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as reported on Fox News, and in The Epoch Times. It is believed Hamas murdered the hostages within the past day or two, also according to the IDF.

The six most recently murdered hostages include Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, kidnapped by Islamic extremist terrorist group Hamas from the Nova music festival in southern Israel last October 7. Goldberg-Polin attended the music festival with friends in celebration of his birthday. The other five murdered hostages are Master Sergeant Ori Danino, 25, Carmel Gat, 40, Alex Lubnov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 25, and Eden Yerushalmi, 24.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, spoke on August 21, Day Three of the Democrat National Convention. “This is a political convention. But needing our only son - and all of the cherished hostages - home, is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” said an impassioned Polin.

This tragic news broke on Sunday morning, 330 days following the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, the slaughter of more than 1,400 people, and the kidnapping of 250 men, women, and children ranging in ages from, on that date, a few months to over 85 years of age. Of the eight Americans among the hostages, at least four are known dead. The status of more than 100 hostages, including up to four Americans, remains unknown. What is known, is that the IDF recovered the bodies of the six murdered hostages from an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis, Gaza. This is a tunnel the IDF recently captured from Hamas in Rafah. 

“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said IDF spokesperson Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hamas is responsible for the October 7 invasion of Israel and the massacre of more than 1,400 innocent men, women, and children - the largest massacre of Jewish people in a singular incident since the Holocaust of World War II where the Nazis murdered more than six million Jews. Hamas didn’t simply murder more than 1,400 people, they recorded many of their atrocities including the rape of women and children, the slaughter of children in front of their parents - only to murder the parents, the burning alive of children, also in front of their parents before murdering the parents.

Included in the October 7 massacre by Hamas were more than 200 people from foreign countries outside of Israel, most of whom carried dual citizenship with Israel. The following countries lost the denoted number of nationals - murdered at the hands of Hamas, according to The Times of Israel: France (35), Thailand (33), United States (31), Ukraine (21), Russia (19), United Kingdom (12), Germany (10), Nepal (10), Argentina (9), Canada (6), Romania (5), Austria, China, Philippines, Portugal (4 each), Belarus, Brazil, Italy, Peru (3 each), South Africa (2), and Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey (1 each). Most of these same countries had or still have hostages held by Hamas of indeterminate numbers.

Addressing his nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,” in Hebrew.

Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris expressed their outrage regarding the murder of the six hostages by Hamas. “It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” said Biden. Quite frankly, for a  man who has been AWOL from the White House the past two weeks, Biden’s words ring hollow. How will he make the Hamas leaders pay for their crimes? He has done nothing since October 8.

Harris’s words carry no more confidence than Biden’s. “I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. As Vice President, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world,” said Harris.

Yet, it continues to be the feckless “leadership” of the Biden-Harris administration that emboldens not just Hamas, but Hezbollah, another Islamic extremist terrorist group, to continue their bombings and shootings in their attempts to destroy Israel, the world’s lone Jewish nation on the planet. They have attempted to handcuff Israel at every turn in an attempt to secure a ceasefire, which will only make the administration look good, keep Hamas alive and breathing, without making Israel one bit more secure.

Biden and Harris have blood on their hands. While attempting to walk both sides of the street in telling Israel how they have the right to defend themselves, as if Israel needs permission from anyone as an independent sovereign nation, Biden and Harris are also attempting to placate the Hamas wing of their Democrat Party. The ever-growing radical, far-left of the Democrat Party, thousands of whom voted uncommitted during the primaries, have not only demanded an immediate ceasefire since October 8, but don’t even support the right of Israel to exist - taking their marching orders from Hamas and Hezbollah, who in turn are taking their marching orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the same Iran that during the Trump administration, could not lift a finger against either the US or Israel. Now, thanks to Biden and Harris’s funding of Iran and lifting of sanctions against Iran, has returned the Islamic Republic to its former strength in efforts to build nuclear weaponry to be used against the “Great Satan,” and the “Little Satan.”

Both Biden and Harris continue talking out of both sides of their mouths. Calling for an immediate ceasefire since October 8 supports Hamas, gives Hamas new life, while endangering Israel further. Telling Israel they have the right to defend itself, while also demanding Israel exercise caution and limit their response to the terrorism intended to end the very existence of Israel, certainly is not terribly supportive.

Harris in particular has demonstrated more support for Hamas and the Palestinians by approving the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel, antisemitic rallies, marches, and violence on myriad American college campuses since October 8. Harris has repeatedly said she understands the outrage of their venomous and criminal behavior. She has, on numerous occasions, relied upon statistics provided by Hamas in condemning Israel for the alleged number of Palestinians killed since the Hamas invasion of Israel and slaughter of 1,400 Israelis. The sad reality is Hamas hides among its own people, intentionally putting them in harm’s way and actually killing many of their own people in an effort to curry global support via the media. Hamas, receiving 80 percent of the vote among the Gazans for Hamas to be the elected rulers of Gaza, in addition to hiding among their own people, hides and stores their weaponry in elementary schools, hospitals, residences, and yes, even mosques. 

Additionally, Biden and Harris accuse Israel of withholding food and medical supplies from the people of Gaza, when in reality it is Hamas that hijacks the thousands of trucks rolling into Gaza, and keeps those supplies from their own people, starving them and allowing them to die.

Harris has specifically warned Israel against moving on Rafah, which would be strategically important for Israel to end the war sooner rather than later. “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way, that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” said Harris on ABC, on March 24. Is she dictating to Israel? And let’s not forget, Harris, the sitting vice president seeking a promotion this November, boycotted PM Netanyahu’s address before Congress in July.

Biden and Harris simply want to end the war. Israel wants and must win the war. There is an enormous difference. Ending the war allows Hamas to live another day and continue its terror campaign in its effort to eliminate the only Jewish nation on the planet. Winning the war allows Israel to exist, and its people to live and thrive peacefully. Hamas is a terrorist organization hell bent on ending the existence of Israel and killing the Jewish people, while Israel is a legitimate sovereign nation. Hamas and Israel should under no circumstance ever be equated with one another. The fact is, if Hamas puts down their weapons, there will be no more war. If Israel puts down its weapons, there will be no more Israel. May the memories of the hostages forever be for a Blessing.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.