US Ambassador: Chanukah Light Reminds Us of Hope for Better Times Ahead

Jerusalem, 12 December, 2023 (TPS) -- US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew paid tribute to Israeli organizations and volunteers supporting the Jewish state’s home front at a Chanukah-lighting ceremony in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.

Despite the difficulties of Israel being mobilized for war for two months, the light of Chanukah, Lew said, “Tells us that after trouble comes better times, and that’s the story we have to remember.”

He cited members of the Israel Defense Forces, the United Hatzalah and ZAKA emergency response organizations, the Healing Space mental health facility, and the Civil Volunteer Organization, praising “the people of Israel coming together to show the goodness, not the darkness.”

The ambassador was addressing a gathering at the Anu Museum of the Jewish People.

Said Lew, “When the terrorists attacked on October 7, people represented by these organizations didn’t think twice about stepping in, risking their own lives, and saving the lives of others. They ran in to help. They represent goodness. They remind us of the hope that Chanukah brings.”

US Friendship and Friction

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Tuesday he has some differences with US President Joe Biden, but Israel appreciates Washington’s support.

“I greatly appreciate the American support for destroying Hamas and returning our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

“Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war,” he continued.

“Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well,” stated the premier, vowing not to repeat the “mistake” of the Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993 and 1995.

“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” he added, referring to the Fatah faction controlled by P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas.

During a stormy discussion in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Monday, Netanyahu said there is no way the Palestinian Authority will be allowed to rule Gaza in a post-Hamas reality. “Oslo was the mother of all sins,” said the Israeli prime minister. “The difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is only that Hamas wants to destroy us here and now, and the P.A. wants to do it in stages.”

“We cooperate with them against Hamas when it serves their interest and ours up to a certain limit,” he added. “We decided a few months ago that we don’t want them to collapse so that Hamas does not rise up in Judea and Samaria as well.”

Netanyahu’s stance is at odds with Washington, whose position is that the Palestinian Authority is the best alternative.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is due to visit Jerusalem soon.

The Iran-backed Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, when it violently seized control of the Strip from the Palestinian Authority. The Hamas takeover prompted an Israeli and Egyptian blockade to prevent weapons smuggling.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Hamas currently holds 137 men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners captive in Gaza. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.