‘Scary and shocking:’ Milwaukee, regional Jewish leaders react to Hamas attacks on Israel as death toll rises | CPT PPP Coverage

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — More than 300 are dead, thousands are wounded, and many other civilians are either kidnapped or being held hostage in Israel after the country fell under a surprise attack Saturday, Oct. 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially declared they are “at war” after Palestinian militants fired thousands of rockets into the country and invaded several towns and military bases.

Officials said the attacks came from Hamas, a known terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.

“300 Israelis, while it might not seem like a huge context in America, that’s the equivalent of over 10,000 Americans being killed,” said Jacob Millner, the regional director for the American Jewish Committee. “So, think of it as the equivalent of like three, 9/11’s happening, in terms of proportion to the population.”

And those numbers continue to rise. 

“It really kind of caught Israel off guard, it seems, and I think that’s something that will need to be addressed,” Millner said. “But it strikes me that the Israelis and the Israeli government really didn’t see what was going on and needs to have a better understanding of the security situation down in the south part of Israel.”

Some said this is the largest terrorist attack on the country since 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, whose 50th anniversary occurred on Friday.

“More civilians have already died today than the entire Yom Kippur War, which was a military attack,” said Miryam Rosenzweig, the president and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. “This is not just a regular skirmish. This isn’t, oh, something that’s just happening over there. Today was a day that was unprecedented.”

Israel responded to the violence by launching lethal airstrikes toward Gaza, with Netanyahu vowing retribution against the group.

Many world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, also released statements condemning Hamas’ attack.

Besides falling on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, the attack also came on a holiday weekend in Israel and for Jewish around the world.

“We’re seeing really graphic videos of what Hamas is doing to some folks, you know, men, women, children, elderly, and I think that that’s really the thing that really kind of pulls the most at the heartstrings is really seeing what’s happening on the ground to civilians,” Millner said.
It’s not army combatants, it’s civilian, somewhere at a festival in the desert near the Gaza border, or in Israel over the weekend.”

Rosenzweig agreed, adding that she’s been in contact with her friends and family who are in Israel, as well as Milwaukeeans who are in the country.

“People in Israel are really shocked. They’re really frightened, and most of them are under lockdown right now,” Rosenzweig said. “At the end of the day, half of the world’s Jewish community lives in Israel. It is the only place that is safe for Jewish in the world. They’re tenacious and resilient, and they will get through this.”

MJF officials are launching a terrorism victim fund to help those on the ground immediately receive cash and “be able to rebuild their lives in the best way possible.”

“We will stand behind the people of Israel, and we will stand behind them as we did 50 years ago, during the Yom Kippur War,” Rosenzweig said. “We will stand them and watch Israel celebrate another 75 years.”

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