Letters to the Editor: ‘An Editorial Response From Maryland’s Senior Senator’

These letters are in response to ‘An Editorial Response From Maryland’s Senior Senator’ (Op-ed, Aug. 14)

Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s op-ed calls for accountability when Americans are harmed abroad. That principle is correct and essential. But the senator’s focus on alleged Israeli misconduct in the West Bank leaves out the full reality: Israel is under constant attack from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Iran-backed groups whose stated goal is the destruction of the Jewish state. These groups target civilians, Israeli and American alike, with shootings, stabbings, rocket fire and other acts of terror. Any discussion of violence in the region must begin with this truth.

Violence by individual Israelis against Palestinians is wrong and must be prosecuted. But when Americans are murdered by Palestinian terrorists, or when Israeli families are slaughtered in their homes, justice demands the same urgency. One-sided outrage undermines the principle that accountability must be even-handed.

That imbalance is why the attempts by Sen. Van Hollen and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to ban vital weapons sales to the Jewish state as it fights to protect its families from Iran and its terrorist proxies are so dangerous. Several times in less than a year, the overwhelming bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate has repeatedly rebuffed these efforts to undermine Israel’s security. Such measures would punish our closest democratic ally in the Middle East while rewarding those who seek its annihilation.

The surest way to prevent tragedies is not to weaken the U.S.-Israel bond, but to defeat the terrorism that drives the violence in the first place.

William C. Daroff

The writer is chief executive officer of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

When Sen. Van Hollen says in his op-ed that, “Given these facts — and that U.S. taxpayers provide Israel with more ongoing security assistance than any other country …” there are facts he has omitted.

First, I have heard a lot of criticism from the senator about Israel and its policies, and while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is far from perfect, I have yet to hear a single suggestion from the senator on how he would have carried out this defensive war after the worst unprovoked attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Come up with a plan to eradicate Hamas, freeing Israel and innocent Palestinians from their terror, or accept how the IDF is doing it.

I have yet to hear a single word from the senator about how Hamas cares less about the lives of its own people rather than acknowledge a Jewish state. And yes, the United States has been very generous with aid to Israel, but the United States gets significant dividends on its investment, including getting more intelligence from Israel than any other country in the region.

This relationship is a two-way street, and with these 29 senators he references, they are the ones putting a strain on this mutually beneficial relationship.

I have yet to hear a single word from him regarding the plight of Muslims in China, or the oppression of so many others — only how oppressive Israel is.

I applaud the senator for exercising his right to free speech, which allows me to vigorously disagree with him, but this debate would never happen in Gaza, pre- or post-Oct. 7, because innocent Palestinians are under the tyranny of inhumane Hamas. His views on this matter make me ashamed to call myself a Marylander and he simply does not represent me.

Dan Caplan, Rockville

I find it astounding that Sen. Chris Van Hollen has the audacity to criticize Israel, and more specifically, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a Jewish publication. How dare he blame settlers in the West Bank for violence without once mentioning the myriad times Palestinians have murdered innocent Jews in unprovoked attacks? These incidents are too numerous to mention but they are all inspired by hatred that is instilled in Arabs from the time they are born and by the intent to kill Jews with the erroneous belief that Jews occupy Arab land.

Sen. Van Hollen is in need of some Jewish history lessons, including the fact that the West Bank has always been the land of Judea and Samaria, belonging to the Jews. As for holding Israel and Netanyahu accountable, please spare me.

If more senators held Van Hollen’s view, arms and funds to Israel would be curtailed. Some friend of Israel Van Hollen is — I think his actions and tone of voice prove otherwise.

Sara Silverman Stern, Lake Worth, Florida