1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,033 AMNA NAWAZ: Today, in Washington, D.C., tens of thousands of people marched near 2 00:00:04,033 --> 00:00:08,866 the Capitol in support of Israel as its war with Hamas enters a second month. 3 00:00:08,866 --> 00:00:13,866 Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the crowd in a live feed, and protesters were united, 4 00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:19,533 calling for hostages to be released and for rising antisemitism to be condemned. 5 00:00:21,466 --> 00:00:24,666 But some Jewish Americans are torn over how the Israeli government is conducting the war 6 00:00:26,133 --> 00:00:28,133 and the number of Palestinians killed in the last five weeks. 7 00:00:28,133 --> 00:00:32,533 William Brangham got a sampling of some different perspectives. 8 00:00:32,533 --> 00:00:37,533 For many Jews in the U.S., this is a raw and emotionally difficult moment, one filled with 9 00:00:39,966 --> 00:00:43,533 great sadness and anger and anxiety. While there's near universal condemnation of Hamas' vicious 10 00:00:46,133 --> 00:00:51,100 attack on October 7, Israel's response since then, its full-scale attack on Gaza, on Hamas, 11 00:00:53,566 --> 00:00:58,433 and the horrible death it has caused, has exposed divisions within the American Jewish population. 12 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:05,000 To get some sense of those, we spoke with a range of people with different perspectives. 13 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,633 Rabbi Rachel Timoner leads a reform congregation in Brooklyn, 14 00:01:08,633 --> 00:01:13,633 New York. Davian Gekman is a freshman at Cornell University. Rabbi Brant Rosen of Tzedek Chicago 15 00:01:16,333 --> 00:01:21,333 leads a progressive synagogue. David P. is an orthodox Jew and lawyer in Chicago who asked we 16 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,666 not use his last name. Rabbi Ilana Garber advises conservative rabbis as part of the Rabbinical 17 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:34,066 Assembly. And Medea Benjamin is co-founder of the woman-led peace group known as CODEPINK. 18 00:01:35,666 --> 00:01:39,900 One common theme we heard was distress that the initial empathy 19 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:44,333 shown to Israel after October 7 had dissipated and that there's 20 00:01:44,333 --> 00:01:49,300 not more consistent coverage and focus on the hostages Hamas took. 21 00:01:50,900 --> 00:01:52,933 RABBI ILANA GARBER, The Rabbinical Assembly: This was an unprovoked 22 00:01:52,933 --> 00:01:56,400 war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas attacked the Jewish people on October 7. 23 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:02,800 And I feel incredibly sad, incredibly frustrated, incredibly angry. 24 00:02:04,733 --> 00:02:08,533 RABBI BRANT ROSEN, Tzedek Chicago: I think what Hamas did on October 7 was a war crime, 25 00:02:08,533 --> 00:02:13,533 in and of itself. And it was inexcusable. It should be condemned. It was horrific. 26 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,966 But I think Israel's response has been so disproportionate. 27 00:02:18,966 --> 00:02:23,333 DAVID P., Attorney: My family has many victims of the Holocaust and my wife's 28 00:02:23,333 --> 00:02:28,333 family has many survivors. And this just had eerie tropes of pogroms and 29 00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:34,266 the pre-Holocaust era. And what came out afterward was even more shocking, 30 00:02:35,933 --> 00:02:39,900 because we felt as if antisemitism was just out there in the open. 31 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:45,700 And the same themes that came out 70 or so years ago were coming out again. 32 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:51,033 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A more divisive issue is Israel's military response inside the 33 00:02:51,033 --> 00:02:55,933 Gaza Strip. While some are calling for an immediate cease-fire, many Jewish 34 00:02:55,933 --> 00:03:00,900 Americans argue that Israel has every right to aggressively counterattack an enemy like Hamas. 35 00:03:03,366 --> 00:03:05,433 RABBI RACHEL TIMONER, Congregation Beth Elohim: I think it is reasonable for Israel to fight 36 00:03:05,433 --> 00:03:08,600 to bring home the hostages. And I think if people are calling for a cease-fire, 37 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:13,600 they ought to be calling upon Hamas to return the hostages as part of what 38 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:17,600 that cease-fire would look like. And I do not hear that happening so much. 39 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,533 RABBI ILANA GARBER: I think a cease-fire was a great idea, and we had a cease-fire 40 00:03:21,533 --> 00:03:26,533 until October 7. And so I feel like it takes two to tango, and there was a cease-fire. 41 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:33,200 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While Israel has agreed to temporary pauses in its 42 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:38,200 campaign to encourage civilians to leave certain areas, many American Jews argue, 43 00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:43,600 that is not enough. They believe that the widespread destruction wrought by 44 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,600 this counteroffensive, now estimated to have killed over 11,000 civilians, 45 00:03:50,933 --> 00:03:54,133 according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, is immoral and unjustifiable. 46 00:03:55,700 --> 00:03:59,133 Medea Benjamin is among those leading protests for a cease-fire. 47 00:03:59,133 --> 00:04:01,933 MEDEA BENJAMIN, Co-Founder, CODEPINK: There should absolutely be a cease-fire. 48 00:04:01,933 --> 00:04:06,933 There needs to be a cease-fire. We can't keep watching this horrific destruction in Gaza, 49 00:04:10,866 --> 00:04:15,866 where so many, not only people have been destroyed, but the entire infrastructure, 50 00:04:17,533 --> 00:04:21,366 people's homes. There's going to be nowhere for people to live anymore. 51 00:04:21,366 --> 00:04:25,233 RABBI BRANT ROSEN: I really feel, as a member and a leader in the Jewish community, 52 00:04:25,233 --> 00:04:30,033 that this is a moment of deep moral reckoning right now. And 53 00:04:30,033 --> 00:04:35,033 I think it's a test. It's a test for all of us. Over 10,000 people have been killed, 54 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:39,533 and those numbers are rising. Over 4,000 children have been killed, 55 00:04:39,533 --> 00:04:44,533 and those numbers are rising. In such a circumstance, calling for a cease-fire would 56 00:04:46,933 --> 00:04:50,400 seem just the most moderate thing to call for. And the fact that those of us who have been calling 57 00:04:52,533 --> 00:04:55,900 for a cease-fire now are considered the ones who are -- quote, unquote -- "supporting terror" and 58 00:04:57,933 --> 00:05:02,633 making some kind of radical suggestion, I think, to me is just mind-boggling. 59 00:05:02,633 --> 00:05:05,233 DAVIAN GEKMAN, Student, Cornell University: Israel cannot consider a cease-fire. You cannot 60 00:05:05,233 --> 00:05:10,100 negotiate with terrorists. You cannot call -- you cannot have a cease-fire with Hamas still there. 61 00:05:12,066 --> 00:05:15,600 I think Israel has and must eliminate Hamas, but it must protect the lives of 62 00:05:17,233 --> 00:05:20,933 civilians. And I think that it needs to operate with more care at times. 63 00:05:20,933 --> 00:05:25,633 DAVID P.: I'm not an expert on human rights, but I know that over 1,000 humans were killed 64 00:05:25,633 --> 00:05:30,633 without any provocation in one day. And when we look at the sort of circumstance, 65 00:05:32,233 --> 00:05:36,000 we have to say, how was this started, and has it been remedied yet? 66 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,000 The answer is, it was started by one side, and it has not yet been remedied. There 67 00:05:42,966 --> 00:05:46,633 are over 200 hostages who have not been returned home. And that is an outrage. 68 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:50,700 RABBI BRANT ROSEN: I think there have been humanitarian violations on both 69 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:55,700 sides. What Hamas did on October 7 was a war crime, the killing of civilians. 70 00:05:57,233 --> 00:06:00,700 What Israel is doing and what Israel has done to Gaza in the past, 71 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:05,633 going in militarily and assaulting an imprisoned population, again, 72 00:06:05,633 --> 00:06:10,633 over two million people with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, with tons and tons and 73 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,200 tons of bombs, and now going in on the ground, these are war crimes as well. 74 00:06:20,166 --> 00:06:24,633 WOMAN: At Cornell University, the FBI now investigating after threatening statements 75 00:06:24,633 --> 00:06:28,833 were posted about Jewish people on an Internet discussion board. 76 00:06:28,833 --> 00:06:30,933 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The dramatic rise in antisemitic 77 00:06:30,933 --> 00:06:35,933 vitriol and attacks has also been an enormous worry to many American Jews. 78 00:06:37,933 --> 00:06:39,400 RABBI RACHEL TIMONER: I definitely have seen an increase in antisemitism, 79 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,866 as I believe has every Jew in the world. I mean, 80 00:06:42,866 --> 00:06:47,866 it is rampant and shocking and stunning the amount of antisemitism that is coming at Jews. 81 00:06:50,733 --> 00:06:53,800 All of my members, they have seen graffiti 82 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,166 in their neighborhoods. We had - - our building was vandalized. 83 00:06:57,166 --> 00:07:00,900 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Davian Gekman saw this play out in recent days at Cornell. 84 00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:04,733 DAVIAN GEKMAN: Here on campus, we have had a -- most recently, we had somebody on a 85 00:07:04,733 --> 00:07:09,733 discussion forum post that they wanted to bomb our kosher center, they wanted to kill Jews. 86 00:07:09,733 --> 00:07:14,733 There was a very large discussion amongst Jews on campus whether it's safe to even be on campus. 87 00:07:16,166 --> 00:07:19,400 A lot of students had -- went back home the moment that these 88 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,700 attacks were revealed. They did not go to class. 89 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:27,700 MEDEA BENJAMIN: I have not personally experienced antisemitism, but I have personally experienced 90 00:07:29,733 --> 00:07:32,733 tremendous divisions within my own family. Some members of my family who at one time were 91 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:39,133 more sympathetic to the Palestinians are now not sympathetic at all, and other members of my family 92 00:07:41,633 --> 00:07:44,700 who were never sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, and it was Israel can do no wrong. 93 00:07:46,333 --> 00:07:49,800 So it's that kind of division that I have seen. 94 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,933 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Some of those we spoke with still hope for a two-state solution, 95 00:07:53,933 --> 00:07:58,400 where peace could be achieved for both Jews and Palestinians. 96 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:03,033 But, for now, that future seems as remote as it has in decades. 97 00:08:03,033 --> 00:08:07,633 RABBI ILANA GARBER: Right now, I don't know what a resolution looks like. Every day, 98 00:08:07,633 --> 00:08:12,400 every hour, there's something new on the news, and I think, 99 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:17,400 this is the worst it's going to be, or this is the most we will lose life or hope. 100 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:25,200 Nothing is logical anymore. Nothing is reasonable. I think it's going 101 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,466 to have to be that everyone wants to work together. That might be just an ideal dream, 102 00:08:35,900 --> 00:08:40,900 but if we want to live as neighbors, then we need to figure this out. 103 00:08:47,766 --> 00:08:52,766 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.