'Heartbroken' Long Islanders rally in support of Israel, shaken over death toll 

Days after Hamas launched attacks on towns throughout southern Israel, shaken Long Islanders turned out in at rallies Monday to express solidarity with the Jewish nation and mourn the hundreds killed — even as the fighting raged on.

“Hamas terrorists perpetrated the largest mass murder in Jewish history since the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Howard Buechler of the Dix Hills Jewish Center at an afternoon rally of more than 500 people at the Suffolk Y JCC in Commack. The people of Israel are “heartbroken, with tears flowing in shock.”

By Monday afternoon, The Associated Press reported that close to 1,600 Israelis and Palestinians had been killed.

“Israel did not start this fight,” Rick Lewis, CEO of the Suffolk Y JCC, told the crowd. “This was not Israel’s fault.”

One attendee said she was still trying to fathom the events.

“It’s horrific,” said Joan Kulchinsky, a Dix Hills resident. “How old do we have to be to finally learn how to live together?”

Earlier, at the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in Greenvale, Dagen Cohen, director of the JCC’s Center for Israel, told the crowd his cousin — a father of two serving in the Israeli Defense Forces — had been killed Saturday.

“It feels like a never-ending horror movie,” he said. “We start every day with crying.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman likened the coordinated attacks, which killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers in border communities and a music festival, to “Pearl Harbor for Israel,” and said retaliatory strikes by the IDF targeting sites in Hamas-controlled Gaza were justified.

“This is not about revenge, it’s about survival,” he said.

He drew cheers from the crowd of hundreds in the facility’s auditorium, where attendees waved Israeli flags and many, in a show of hands, said they too knew people who had been killed or kidnapped in the weekend attacks. In the hall outside, a woman screamed in grief. Nassau County police officers stood outside in black tactical gear with automatic rifles.

Israeli airstrikes pounded the Gaza Strip and defense forces cut off food, fuel and other supplies to the territory, the AP reported Monday. Hamas pledged to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warnings. Hamas and other militants in Gaza say they are holding more than 130 soldiers and civilians snatched from inside Israel. Hamas, which governs Gaza, has called for Israel’s destruction and has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

President Joe Biden said Monday afternoon that 11 Americans had been confirmed dead and “we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas.”

Around 900 people, including 73 soldiers, already have been killed in Israel, according to media. In Gaza, more than 680 people have been killed, according to authorities there; Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands have been wounded on both sides.

At least one Long Islander serving in IDF appears to be among those who were kidnapped, according to Matt Capp, a spokesman for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), and Eric Post, Long Island director of the centrist nonprofit American Jewish Committee.

In Syosset, North Shore Synagogue’s rabbi led a prayer vigil Monday night for Israel with nine other congregations, including Faith Lutheran Church.

Rabbi Jaimee Shalhevet said, “it takes people to make peace … When we are under attack, we are not whole.”

“Israel is all of us and we know it we are not alone in this vigil. We pray our mere presence can make a difference. ,” she said. “We pray our unifying here tonight is one small step toward making the world a better place and let them know Israel is not alone. ”

The vigil included 17 clergy leaders who offered solidarity and support for the Jewish people with the singing of songs, psalms and prayers for Israel including a moment of silence to pray for peace.

“All of us are distressed about what’s going on in Israel and particularly for the innocent citizens killed (and) held captive,” said Beth Bucheister of Oyster Bay, a past president of the synagogue. “In a community far away from our other community of Israel, we need to come together.”

Michelle Almaliah of Woodbury said she was born in Israel and while her immediate family is in New York, her extended family still lives in Israel. “ My cousins have been called back into the reserves and could be sent into combat,” she said. “ I want to be able to be present for them and show we stand with them and if nothing else send my strength and my love.”

Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), D’Esposito and George Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) said they had been in contact with constituents seeking to leave Israel. .

Nassau County is home to about 192,000 Jews, a significant portion of the Jewish diaspora in the United States.

Law enforcement sought to assure residents. Nassau police have added 20 cars to street patrols and put units like SWAT and Emergency Services on alert, Blakeman said. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said police have detected no credible threats to synagogues, schools or other institutions, but nonetheless will be boosting surveillance..

In Greenvale, Nassau 10th District Legis. Mazi Melesa Pilip, a former Israeli paratrooper, said she screamed when she learned of the attacks. She has family still in Israel and when she called one of her sisters, the sister spoke in a whisper: “I’m afraid,” Pilip recalled her saying. “Maybe they’re still around us.” Pilip said she’d lost whatever hope she’d once had for peaceful coexistence.

In a phone interview, Post said the Monday rallies reflected “extremely strong” local ties to Israel. “Every synagogue, every youth group and many institutions are directly connected to Israel,” with ties deepened by groups like the Jewish Agency For Israel, which sends young Israeli emissaries into local communities. “Many of us have family and friends there.”

In an interview outside the JCC after the event, one attendee, Philip Ross, a lawyer from Great Neck, said “the attack on Israel is antisemitic, and what we witnessed is a pogrom,” using a word often associated with massacres of Jews in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Marcia Kalt, a homemaker from Manhasset, said the attacks had confirmed a long-standing belief for her: “Israel will never, never be at peace with the countries around them, they will always have to be on guard.”

Philip and Jackie Becker, an SAT tutor and teacher from Port Washington, said they had family in Israel. “If you ask me, this is the beginning of World War III,” she said, rattling off a list of potentially entangled countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia.

Jordan Resnick, a recent college graduate from Roslyn, said the event had unsettled her. “There’s so much anger, and we’re not going to be able to solve problems if we’re coming at this from a place of fear.”