10 | JUNE 3 • 2021

LETTERS from page 8
PURELY COMMENTARY
sisters or else perish as fools.
”
Stop Hamas! Live in peace and
establish the beloved commu-
nity that Dr. King envisioned
for America and the world. “We
shall overcome someday!”

— The Coalition for Black and

Jewish Unity

Rev. Deedee Coleman, Co-chair

Rabbi Marla Hornsten, Co-chair

Rev. Kenneth J. Flowers, Co-director

Mark Jacobs, Co-director

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Convener

Mazel Tov HFL

Mazel tov to Hebrew Free
Loan (HFL) on its 125th anni-
versary serving our Detroit
Jewish community. As I read
the article about Hebrew Free
Loan in the May 13 issue of the
Detroit Jewish News, I realized
the depth of the work our local
Jewish communal agencies do
in support of our community.
As the president of National
Council of Jewish Women,
Michigan (NCJW|MI), I am
proud of the work that we do in
partnership with Hebrew Free
Loan. In 1902, we established
our first scholarship fund to
honor the first president of the
Jewish Women’s Club, which
then grew into the NCJW |
MI of today. This was the
beginning of our continuing
Education Assistance Program.
With the support of our many
donors, Jewish college students
attending Michigan schools are
provided interest-free loans and
grants within the guidelines of
the William Davidson Jewish
College Loan Program through
Hebrew Free Loan.
NCJW|MI is honored to part-
ner with HFL to benefit approx-
imately 150 students each year.
We look forward to an enduring
relationship with Hebrew Free
Loan and congratulate the
organization on its continued
success. Yasher Koach!

— Amy Cutler

President, NCJW|MI

guest column
Barack Obama and the
Legacy of Iron Dome
T

he jaw-dropping
videos of Israel’s
Iron Dome anti-
missile system intercepting
more than 1,000 Hamas
rockets — and
a few drones —
aimed at Jewish
population
centers during
the recent
conflict should
remind the
world of
the U.S.’s longstanding
bipartisan commitment to
the Jewish state’s security
— underscored in 2008 by
then-Sen. Barack Obama,
who played a key role in Iron
Dome’s creation.
For it was presidential
candidate Obama, a few
months prior to his election,
whose subsequent actions
played a key role in the
missile system’s deployment.
During the Democratic
nominee’s trip to Israel in
July 2008, the purpose of
which was to reinforce his
foreign policy credentials, he
traveled to meet residents of
the embattled Israeli town
of Sderot, near Gaza, which
had been a frequent target
of Hamas missiles and terror
attacks.
Obama’s talks with Israeli
and Palestinian officials
scrupulously avoided
controversy that could have
hurt his electability. He
was a youthful presidential
hopeful relatively unknown
in the Middle East, and not
yet well known in his own

country outside his home
state of Illinois. He knew the
importance of the U.S.-Israel
alliance. And his exposure to
the drama playing out on the
Israeli-Gaza border struck
a chord with him, eliciting
empathy for the average
Israelis who day and night
faced deadly threat from
Hamas missiles.
In answer to a question
whether Israel should be
negotiating with Hamas,
recognized by the U.S. and
other nations as a terrorist
organization, Obama told
reporters covering his trip:
“I don’t think any country
would find it acceptable to
have missiles raining down
on the heads of their citizens.
“The first job of any nation
state is to protect its citizens.
And, so, I can assure you that
if — I don’t even care if I was
a politician — if somebody
was sending rockets into
my house where my two
daughters sleep at night, I’m

going to do everything in
my power to stop that. And
I would expect Israelis to do
the same thing,” he said.
Thus continued a
relationship of mutual
admiration and support
that endures between
Israelis and a broad swath of
Americans of varied political
persuasions, dating back
to Harry Truman. Without
the financial and material
support in military matters,
it’s an open question as to
whether Israel today would
possess the anti-rocket
missiles that constitute a key
element of defense against
hostile neighbors, buttressing
the country’s survival.

GENESIS OF IRON DOME
The concept of the Iron Dome
system dates to 2004, when
Brig. Daniel Gold, a mathema-
tician and head of new-weap-
ons research and develop-
ment for Israel’s Ministry of
Defense, invited the country’s

Doron Levin

continued on page 12

NATANFLAYER

Iron Dome launcher
deployed next to
Sderot, Israel
(June 2011)