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)

