[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ISRAEL AT 77

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                        HON. JENNIFER A. KIGGANS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 5, 2025

  Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record 
remarks submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi 
Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his 
views:
       Israel At 77--How poignant to affirm the special 
     relationship between the U.S. and Israel, two close 
     democratic allies, in our own Hampton Roads and Commonwealth 
     of Virginia! Hampton Roads' military might is ever ready to 
     stand by beleaguered Israel. Early in the Gaza War, the USS 
     Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, where I had lectured on 
     Holocaust Lessons, rushed to the Mediterranean to deter 
     Israel's Iran led enemies. Currently the USS Harry Truman 
     aircraft carrier is there hitting Yemen's Houthis who hit 
     Israel. Uniquely, The Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB) 
     established in 1996, a Virginia government agency, advises 
     the Governor on promoting economic, cultural and educational 
     ties with Israel. Israel's 77th anniversary takes place in 
     the long and dark shadow of the transforming events of 
     October 7, 2023, continuing to impact the survival and 
     meaning of the Jewish state from within and without. All 
     those seeking searing reflection should turn to an essential 
     book of blood, pain and love. Amir Tibon gifted Israeli 
     author and noted journalist's recent The Gates of Gaza (A 
     Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope In Israel's 
     Borderlands), Little, Brown and Company. 2024 is bound to be 
     a classic.
       This literary masterpiece offers eye-witness report from 
     that ``Black Sabbath'' with its shocking Holocaust images, 
     continuing to shake up the State of Israel, the Middle East 
     and beyond. Tibon, his wife and two very young daughters 
     survived a harrowing nightmare in their home's safe room in 
     Kibbutz Nahal Oz, the closest Israeli community to Gaza. On 
     that day, that will also live in infamy, they were terrorized 
     in darkness and very small quarters till liberated by Amir's 
     father, Noam, a retired Israeli general, who rushed with his 
     wife from Tel Aviv to save their family. Both Amir and Noam 
     were invited to share with then President Biden when he 
     arrived in Israel on October 17. Both father and son firmly 
     requested the release of barbarically treated 251 hostages, 
     including American citizens. Captives' redemption is a top 
     Jewish commandment and an honored Israeli tradition. Saving 
     the remaining hostages is paramount! The author's angst is 
     with the Nazi-like Hamas leaders as well as Prime Minister 
     Netanyahu and his government for the colossal failure to 
     forestall the October 7 debacle, requiring a state inquiry 
     commission. A disturbing inclusion is the eulogy by the late 
     Moshe Dayan, the iconic Israeli leader who back in April 30, 
     1956, spoke at Nahal Oz's first funeral. Dayan, initially 
     arriving the day before for planned four weddings only to 
     face the brutal murder of Roi Rutberg, Nahal Oz's security 
     chief, by infiltrating Gazans. Dayan's stirring words created 
     a stir in the young community for its pessimistic message 
     relevant years later for the October 7 much larger calamity, 
     raising troubling questions about a peaceful future. ``Have 
     we forgotten that this group of young people dwelling at 
     Nahal Oz is bearing the heavy gates of Gaza on its shoulders? 
     Beyond the furrow of the border, a sea of hatred and desire 
     for revenge is swelling awaiting the day when serenity will 
     dull our path . . . This is our life's choice: to be prepared 
     and armed, strong and determined, lest the sword be stricken 
     from our fist and our lives cut down''
       Yet, unsettling as the current scenario is we are duty-
     bound at this significant 77th celebration of an Israel 
     reborn representing 4,000 years of Jewish experience and 
     persistence, to keep a balanced perspective. Israel's 
     monumental accomplishments and gained substantial power--
     though still vulnerable--since its fragile 1948 establishment 
     in the Holocaust's consuming shadow are promising. However, 
     its internal conflicting core issues demand resolution and 
     reconciliation to guarantee a robust democracy in a 
     pluralistic Jewish context, eschewing both secular 
     authoritarianism and oppressive theocracy. Otherwise, the 
     gates of Gaza (the book's title) that biblical Samson carried 
     facing the threatening Philistines, would now prove too heavy 
     for heroic Israel at multi front war!
  Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia 
Beach. He was born in Chu, Kazakhstan (USSR) to Polish Holocaust 
survivors who had met in Siberia. He spent his early childhood in 
Poland, Austria and Germany before moving to Israel in 1949.

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