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HomeRead, Watch, ListenIsrael
Israel Hamas WarAnalysisIsrael

Rival rabbis face off over ethics of Gaza starvation

Two groups of Orthodox rabbis have signed duelling letters over the ethics of the Gaza War, with Australian signatories on both sides.
Ittay Flescher
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Rabbi Yosef Blau

Rabbi Yosef Blau is the first signatory in a letter from rabbis concerned about the ethics of starvation in Gaza (Image: Courtesy Smol Muni).

Published: 2 September 2025

Last updated: 2 September 2025

Two groups of Orthodox rabbis have gone head to head in fiery letters about the ethics of the Gaza war, setting the parameters for a values debate that may define Jewish responsibility in the modern world.

Eighty Orthodox rabbis from around the world last month issued “A Call for Moral Clarity, Responsibility, and a Jewish Orthodox Response in the Face of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis”. Among the signatories is Australian Rabbi Ralph Genende.

The universalism of this message caused immense fury from their Orthodox peers and was widely criticised on social media. The result was a reponse letter from a group calling itself the Coalition for Jewish Values. "A Rabbinic Response to a Misguided “Call for Moral Clarity"" was signed by 204 rabbis, including Rabbi Alexander Tsykin of Brighton Hebrew Congregation.

Stressing Israel's obligations

The first letter was spearheaded by Rabbi Yosef Blau, a longtime leading rabbi at Yeshiva University in New York who retired and moved to Israel this year.

It is based on evidence of acute malnutrition in Gaza, where a famine was officially declared by the UN food security body in August. The rabbis' letter references Israel's 78-day blockade of humanitarian aid and notes Israel's responsibility to do what it can to alleviate hunger.

“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 rabbis write.

The 80 Orthodox rabbis also lament the ascendance of extremist voices in Israel, the hardening of sentiments about Palestinians, and the explosion of settler violence in the West Bank.

The letter specifically targets the responsibility of religious Zionists, noting “Orthodox Jewry, as some of Israel’s most devoted supporters, bears a unique moral responsibility. We must affirm that Judaism’s vision of justice and compassion extends to all human beings.”

Absolving Israel

The response letter rejects the contention that Israel has anything to do with the suffering in Gaza.

“The only source of Gaza’s ongoing tragedy is Hamas. To state otherwise is to grant unintended support to antisemitic inversions of this obvious truth,” write the 204 signatories.

The Coalition is headed by Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, a Baltimore-based rabbi without Rabbi Blau's leadership status.

The letter says that compassion for all god's creatures is a Jewish value, but with reference to Gaza, the letter quotes the Medrash where Rebbe Eliezer teaches us that “whoever is kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind”.

The letter defending Israel does not confine itself to the issue of Gaza, but segues to an attack on the general approach of modern Orthodox rabbis who are open to changes such as ordaining women and accepting homosexuality.

"The overwhelming majority of its signatories are not representative of mainstream Orthodoxy, but rather come from the ranks of “Open Orthodoxy,” including nearly 20 women who have adopted the title “rabbi” and several openly gay clergy. Whatever one’s view of such movements, they are not acting in accordance with Torah, and are not recognised as Orthodox by the vast majority of Orthodox Jewry worldwide,” the letter says.

Australian Rabbinate backs Netanyahu

The Chabad-dominated Rabbinical Association of Australasia (RAA) has also been issuing letters, in support of the Netanyahu government and against Australia's recognition of Palestine, but has yet to issue any letter on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

An RAA letter to the community on August 22 pits the rabbis against Jewish communal leadership. The letter is the latest salvo in escalating tensions between Australia and Israel, which began when the Australian government declared its intention to recognise Palestine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his objections, calling Australia’s Prime Minister “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews". Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Daniel Aghion wrote to Netanyahu, accusing him of “clumsy” and “inflammatory” intervention into Australian politics.

"[The Rabbinate] wishes to remind the community that while the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) is an important communal body that has faithfully served Australian Jewry for decades, it does not represent the Rabbinate. At times, the Rabbinate may take a principled and independent view. At this moment, the Rabbinate wishes to affirm our unwavering public support for the State of Israel and its prime minister,” the rabbis wrote.

On August 28, the RAA issued an additional letter calling for the Australian government to reconsider any steps toward the recognition of a Palestinian state, claiming that recognition under the current circumstances would "risk legitimising groups and structures still tied to terrorism and violence and could also undermine Australia's broader commitment to security, stability, and the fight against extremism".

Orthodoxy's deep divide

The duelling rabbinic statements highlight the widening theological and moral divide within Orthodoxy over how Jews should respond to the suffering of Palestinians during the Gaza war, antisemitism and the policies of the Netanyahu government.

On one side, the rabbis led by Rav Yosef Blau have invoked Jewish universalism to argue that compassion and justice must extend beyond tribal boundaries, even in times of war. On the other, their critics insist that such compassion risks undermining Israel’s legitimacy and emboldening its enemies, framing the crisis through the lens of Hamas’s culpability rather than Israel’s responsibility.

Beyond the polemics, these competing voices reveal that the question of how Jews should engage with the suffering of others — especially those considered enemies — remains one of the deepest unresolved moral tensions in contemporary Jewish life.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, and as the war continues to reshape Israeli and Jewish identity, the clash between universal and particularist interpretations of Jewish ethics will only become sharper. The debate between these rabbis is not merely about policy in Gaza, but about the very soul of Orthodoxy and the values that will define Jewish responsibility in the modern world.

READ MORE

Letter by Orthodox rabbis (Torat Chayim)

Yosef Blau, author of an Orthodox rabbis’ letter calling out Israel, responds to his critics (JTA)

A Rabbinic Response to a Misguided “Call for Moral Clarity” (Coalition for Jewish Values)

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About the author

Ittay Flescher

Ittay Flescher

Ittay Flescher is the Jerusalem Correspondent for The Jewish Independent. For over twenty years, he has worked as an educator, journalist, and peacebuilder in Melbourne and Jerusalem. His book, The Holy and the Broken: A Cry for Israeli-Palestinian Peace from a Land that Must Be Shared, was longlisted for the 2025 Walkley Book Awards.

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Comments2

  • Avatar of Ian Light

    Ian Light4 September at 06:20 am

    Flood Gaza with Humane Aid and show that Israel
    in addition to being a brilliant and tough warrior Nation has humane values despite the provocation induced by the Extreme Barbarity of the Enemy Militias Hamas Hezbollah and the Iranian Guards of the Theocratic Regime .
    A Ceasefire for Return of all Hostages is now Just .
    During this Ceasefire Hamas has to keep its declaration to hand control over Gaza to a Moderate Arab led Force supported by the USA and the Human Rights Democracies.

  • Avatar of Wesley Parish

    Wesley Parish2 September at 11:08 am

    “whoever is kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind” – I think that applies to the terrorists of the Yishuv (some of whom violated agreements such as the peace agreement between Deir Yasin and Givat Shaul) and the way Jewish communities were so accepting of this state of terrorism the Nakba, as much or more so, than it does to Palestinians.