What would King Solomon do?
King Solomon is well known from the Bible. The most famous Solomon story of all: two women come before him both claiming to be the mother of a baby. Solomon calls for a sword and says the solution is to cut the baby in two and give one half to each woman. One of the women is amenable to this solution, but the other protests, saying she would rather give the child up than see it killed. Solomon thus determines that the latter woman is the child’s mother. As the final verse of the chapter relates, the story burnished Solomon’s credentials as the possessor of transcendent wisdom: “When all Israel heard the decision that the king had rendered, they stood in awe of the king; for they saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice.” (I Kings 3:28)
What would King Solomon say, today, if he were here to witness the barbaric actions of Muslims from Gaza October 7, 2023? The war which these monsters started by invading Israel during a ceasefire, led to 1200 Israelis murdered in the most barbaric ways including placing a baby in the oven and tying families together then setting them on fire, and the kidnapping of 240 civilians – civilians who lived on the Gaza border because they believed that Israelis and Gazans could live in peace.
Israel was held back from attacking Gaza by the Biden administration who also demanded that Israel give aid to the enemy. America feared that Gazans would suffer, from hunger and lack of water and electricity, and heaven forbid these people be mistreated.
Hostage families have demanded the return of all hostages. “Leave No Hostage Behind. ” The Muslims returned the first hostages in November 2023. Hostage negotiations have continued. What family would not agree?
Hostage families have been protesting in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv with weekly rallies organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Protesters say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not done enough to protect the hostages, adding to mounting pressure on the leader to secure a ceasefire deal with Hamas. There are Israelis who believe the IDF should continue fighting “the Nazis of Hamas” for generations to come but that the government must sign a hostage deal immediately even if that means ending the war.
We just witnessed the return of the Bibas boys in a manner that truly disrespected human beings.The Muslims of Gaza showed nothing but disrespect for the dead, let alone the living. Kfir and Ariel Bibas were killed with the “bare hands” of their captors, Israeli Defense Forces said in findings based on forensic conclusions and intelligence. Then, their captors “committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”
Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated:
“This barbaric act is yet another undeniable testament to the unfathomable brutality of those who continue to hold our loved ones captive. The very same hands that slaughtered Ariel and Kfir are the ones keeping our fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters in unimaginable conditions.” .
How could any compassionate person disagree with the demand to return all hostages? Everything must be done so all hostages are returned – dead or alive. These are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.
Israel has been at war since October 7 2023. Since then 891 IDF personnel have fallen, most of them in combat. More than three times the number of hostages. These are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.
In the spring and early summer of 1944, some 435,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Jews were begging the Allies to bomb Auschwitz even if it meant killing the Jews inside in order to stop the continuation of murdering Jews in the crematoria.This would mean sacrificing many Jews to protect others from annihilation.
What would King Solomon have said about the bombing of Auschwitz? Murdering Jews to save other Jews. Looking back, there are many who say many Jews would have been saved if the Allies had bombed Auschwitz. Hindsight.
What would King Solomon say, today, balancing the lives of hostages to be returned – not knowing how many are still alive – and bombing the barbarians into oblivion, with the possibility of killing some hostages, so the monsters can never again murder innocent Jews living peacefully in Israel? Should Israel continue to sacrifice her soldiers, young men and women, on the altar of fighting the “Nazis of Hamas” until… when? Or should Israel sacrifice the remaining hostages to protect future generations of Israelis? Future generations? Present day Israelis.
How would King Solomon split this “baby”? How should justice be served?
From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”
Diane Weber Bederman
