Alan Skorski interviewed Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Executive Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, CJV, who spearheaded a strong response - signed by over 180 Orthodox rabbis - to an earlier letter from a group of 80, mostly ‘Open Orthodox” leaders, whose letter called into question Israel’s morality in “starving Gaza.”
The letter, created by Rabbi Yosef Blau, titled, “A Call for Moral Clarity, Responsibility, and a Jewish Orthodox Response in the Face of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis,” claimed that, “Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation.”
The letter continues, “Amid this devastation, the absence of a clear post-war vision from Prime Minister Netanyahu has allowed the most extreme voices in the Israeli government….These include the forced “voluntary” exile of Palestinians from Gaza and the sacrifice of remaining Israeli hostages in the pursuit of an elusive “total victory.”
“Meanwhile, in Yehuda and Shomron (the West Bank), extremist settler violence has resulted in the murder of civilians and has forced Palestinian villagers from their homes, further destabilizing the region.”
Another disgusting criticism against Israel from this group claims; “The justified anger toward Hamas has dangerously expanded by some extremists into blanket suspicion of the entire population of Gaza — children included — tarnished as future terrorists.”
A portion of Rabbi Menken’s response includes; The "Call for Moral Clarity" statement claimed that Israel bears some responsibility for the suffering of the civilian population, but the CJV letter rejected this as providing “unintended support to antisemitic inversions of… obvious truth.” In reality, and according to international law, CJV asserted, the current war and its impact upon civilians are all due to the Hamas terror organization, the massacre it perpetrated on October 7, 2023, and its unchanged genocidal agenda.
CJV added that the "Moral Clarity" statement exaggerated the significance of isolated, inappropriate reactions to Arab terror attacks upon Jewish citizens, mainly vandalism, while entirely omitting the numerous, murderous Arab terror attacks themselves.
In response to the criticisms of Israel’s responsibility to provide “aid” to Gaza, CJV stated; Our faith indeed demands compassion and dignity for all, but the value that the Torah places upon the protection of every life begins with one’s own. Deuteronomy 4:15 commands, Venishmartem me’od lenafshoseichem, “you shall profoundly guard your life,” and in 13:16 , Uvi’arta hara mikirbecha, “you shall eradicate evil from your midst.” And in the Medrash (Tanchuma, Parshas Metzora), Rebbe Eliezer teaches us that “Whoever is kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind.”
The claim that Israel has deliberately starved Gaza is a falsehood spread by Israel’s enemies. In fact, Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of tons of food, medicine, water, and fuel into Gaza. Israel continues to provide electricity and water, and has allowed multiple international efforts to deliver humanitarian relief.

Alan Skorski Reports 02SEPT2025 - PODCAST