As Israel declared war on Hamas militants who launched a surprise attack on the country, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday pledged the state’s support for Israel while seeking to distinguish the militants from the Palestinian people, who he said want peace in the region.
“We are here at a synagogue where anger seems so unwelcome, but how can we help ourselves?” Pritzker told a crowd of about 1,000 people, many of them holding Israeli flags, outside North Shore Congregation Israel in north suburban Glencoe. “To anyone who thinks otherwise, let me be clear. There are many peace-loving Palestinians and we must honor them. But Hamas? Hamas is a terrorist organization, an army of murderers backed by Iran.
“Their mask has been removed. Executing innocent children and the elderly. Well, there’s a special kind of hell for that. And now the whole world can see. The images and videos of the invasion, the slaughtering of Israeli families and the kidnappings of loved ones is sickening.”
Since Saturday, the fighting between Hamas and the Israelis has claimed at least 1,900 lives on both sides, and that toll is expected to rise. The militants killed hundreds of residents in homes and streets near the Gaza border and for the first time in decades brought gunfights to Israeli towns. Hamas and other militants in Gaza were holding hostage about 150 soldiers and civilians, according to Israel.
“Each step of the way, they should know and the people of Israel should all know that America and Illinois unequivocally stands with them in their battle to end the ongoing Hamas attacks,” Pritzker, who is Jewish, said, drawing applause from the crowd. “We stand with Israel.”
Hamas said the surprise attack was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians in territories under Israeli occupation.
Pritzker sought to assure the crowd in Glencoe that he put the Illinois State Police and law enforcement throughout the state on alert at synagogues and other “gathering places for Jews across Illinois.” He said there is no immediate threat against these places that the FBI or other law enforcement has detected “but they are remaining vigilant, as should all of you.”
Despite their historical differences, Pritzker reiterated how the Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace, while Hamas must be stopped. “We who believe in peace and freedom and human rights for Israelis, for Palestinians, for all humankind must reject those who use terror as their weapon,” the governor said, prompting more applause.
Tuesday’s event was hosted by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago and featured speeches by other elected officials and Jewish leaders. U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Deerfield, told the crowd that he was supposed to be in Israel on Tuesday for a conference to celebrate “the normalization of relations between the Jewish state of Israel and the Arab nations” and the idea that both sides could live together peacefully.
“That is not the vision of Hamas,” Schneider said. “That is the vision of people who believe in peace. Hamas believes Israel should be eliminated and Jews should be murdered.”
“Hamas is a terrorist organization, no different than Al-Qaeda or Islamic State,” he said. “Twenty-two years ago, the United States went to war halfway across the world after 9/11. Oct. 7th is 9/11 for Israel, proportionally on a far greater scale, and Hamas is not halfway around the world, but entrenched on its border.”
Schneider also announced that the U.S. House this week introduced a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel, condemning Hamas and committing to Israel “that we will provide the support Israel needs.”
“Hamas started this war,” he said. “Hamas will be defeated.”
The Associated Press contributed.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
