In Support of Van Hollen
The editorial attack on Senator Chris Van Hollen (“Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Unmasked,” April 5) was as unfair as it was predictable.
Van Hollen’s record is one of speaking truth to power, whether in Washington or Jerusalem. His statements questioning Israel’s conduct of what began as a just war after the vicious Hamas attack on Oct. 7 reflect the views of a large and growing number of his constituents in Maryland as well as of Jews across the country. We Jews, as a people who have experienced the worst violence that history had to offer, should be the first to realize that indiscriminate violence against civilians, along with the cynical denial of humanitarian aid, does not reflect Israel’s interests nor Jewish values.
While noting opposition to the senator from a group of Maryland rabbis, the JT neglected to mention in the editorial that 400 Maryland Jewish leaders wrote a letter supporting him. A majority of Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, now disapprove of Israeli military action in Gaza, according to a new Gallup poll. Only around one in five Americans (22%) think the way the Israeli government is carrying out the war against Hamas will make the Israeli people more secure than they were before the war. As an IDF combat veteran, I agree.
I hope Van Hollen will continue to speak his well-informed mind about what is really in Israel’s and America’s best interests.
Hadar Susskind
President and CEO, Americans for Peace Now
