Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

It is disgraceful and frighteningly dangerous that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly caved in to President Biden’s unconscionable pro-Hamas pressure (exerted during a call on Monday and at other times) to begin daily four-hour so-called “humanitarian pauses” today that endanger the IDF soldiers, Israel and Jews and America. Shamefully, this makes a joke of PM Netanyahu’s fervent pledge that there would no cessation of this war until Hamas released every Israeli hostage. Yet, despicably, Biden is still complaining that he wants even longer pauses. Pauses should not even be considered unless EVERY hostage is freed first and Hamas is destroyed. Did the United States agree to “pauses” when fighting Nazi Germany? Of course not. Hamas is just as evil and depraved as the Nazis, and needs to be fought with the same firmness.

There is no indication that these pauses will help free even a single hostage. Indeed, Israeli President Herzog stated today that Hamas has made no viable proposals to release hostages.

This pause will only lengthen the war against Muslim Arab terrorist Hamas and thus will cause even more casualties for Israel and Arab Jew-hating civilians.

Further, agreeing to a pause sends the dangerous message that worldwide violent demonstrations, anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitism works in changing policy which harms Israel and helps Hamas. This will encourage more antisemitism, more pressure and more demonstrations. Israel should be standing doubly strong now instead of caving in to pressure and undermining Israel’s war against Hamas.

This pause energizes and empowers all jihadist Muslim terrorists like Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Iran.

Hamas has already killed dozens of young Israeli soldiers in this war; and Hamas continues to pelt Israel with rockets every day. Pauses risk and will cost more precious Israel lives. For instance:

• When Hamas launches rockets, the source of the launch needs to be struck immediately to stop more rockets. If the IDF has to wait four hours, Hamas can move the rocket launcher to another location before Israel can destroy it. Moreover, Netanyahu reportedly agreed that the IDF will announce the areas where the “pauses” will occur three hours ahead of time! This means that Hamas can move its launchers into the “pause” area, shoot off rockets with impunity, and move the launchers out before Israel can respond.
• The same problem exists with Hamas terrorists emerging from tunnels to ambush Israeli soldiers in Gaza. An immediate response is needed. Is Israel supposed to wait to respond, because the Hamas ambush took place in the midst of a four-hour “pause”? Hamas isn’t agreeing to any pause; and can be expected to take advantage of the pauses. (Even when Hamas agreed to ceasefires, Hamas violated those ceasefires every single time in order to launch rockets, and murder and kidnap Jews. See “ZOA’s Klein/Berney JNS Op-Ed: Biden’s Call for A Ceasefire Is Pro-Hamas and Anti-Israel,” Nov. 6, 2023.)
• Hamas will surely steal the food, oil and other “humanitarian” supplies that will enter Gaza.
• Hamas will take full advantage of the pauses to move its terrorist operatives and weapons to locations where they can do more harm and/or avoid capture. Indeed, the Israel Defense Forces’ daily update yesterday (Nov. 8) reported that Hamas is using ambulances to transfer weapons and terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip, and attached a recording of Hamas operatives saying that they can come and go by ambulance whenever they want.
• We also criticize Rick Jacobs and the Reform Jewish movement for demanding this dangerous pause. Jacobs is as wrong about this pause as he was about praising Black Lives Matter as the “great civil rights movement of our time.”

ZOA urges PM Netanyahu to immediately rescind these dangerous pauses.