Five university presidents sent a letter this morning (Monday) addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for a solution to the "terrible hunger problem prevailing in Gaza."
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The letter states: "The IDF and other security forces should be instructed to increase their efforts, regardless of the heavy responsibility of Hamas and other elements, to solve the terrible problem of hunger prevailing in Gaza, which is seriously affecting innocent people, including children and infants."
They compared the famine in Gaza to the Holocaust that occurred in Europe: "We watch with shock the scenes coming from Gaza. The release of the hostages and the reduction of harm to our soldiers are paramount goals, but as a people who were victims of the terrible Holocaust in Europe, we also have a special obligation to act with all the means at our disposal to prevent and avoid cruel and indiscriminate harm to innocent men, women and children."
Education Minister Yoav Kish responded to their letter with anger: "Instead of pointing an accusing finger at the terrorist organization Hamas, you chose to join an orchestrated propaganda campaign that it is spreading. There is and has been no Israeli policy designed to 'starve' the population of Gaza. On the contrary, the State of Israel works daily, in cooperation with international agencies, to ensure that humanitarian aid enters the Strip and reaches the hands of the citizens who truly need it. Any attempt to claim otherwise, especially by senior academics, is not only false, but also morally serious and aids the enemy in a time of war."
He added: "It is precisely the leaders of academia in Israel who are expected to demonstrate responsibility, accuracy, and a distinction between reality and propaganda. Your letter, even if written with humanitarian intentions, fits into the false delegitimization campaign led by Hamas and its supporters. I call on you to retract your statement."
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