'Prayers are called for, but they are not enough': Hundreds rally for Israel in Glencoe
The refrain “Am Yisrael chai” – the people of Israel live – was taken up by speakers and spectators Tuesday at a North suburban rally supporting Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,000 civilians, including at least 14 Americans.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider joined a crowd of thousands at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe to voice their solidarity with Israel and condemn the surprise assault.
“Prayers are called for, but they are not enough. Not nearly enough,” Pritzker said. “Children, students, elderly, mothers and fathers, innocents are dead and injured at the hands of Hamas, while still others, more than 150, were taken hostage by the terrorists, who now say they intend to execute some of them on camera.”
Pritzker said he has put Illinois State Police and law enforcement on alert for synagogues and gathering places for Jews across the state, but added that authorities have detected no immediate threat.
Wendi Geffen, rabbi of the congregation, called the attack a “sickening and barbaric onslaught of terror.”
“From here to (the Land of Israel) is 6,208 miles. So far away. But at this moment, far away seems so close that we can feel it pressing up against our hearts so hard that they ache,” she said.
Many in the crowd carried and waved Israeli flags, and shared their outrage over the attack and concern for those they know living in Israel.
“The world's out of control. We don't know what to teach our children anymore,” said Rebecca Fishman, who lives in the North Shore area. “We can't even tell them they're safe, because we don't know.”
Also in the crowd was Anne Baker Jones, who said she has family and friends in Israel.
“If you figure how many Israelis have been killed and you translate to how many Americans that would have been, it's like 25,000,” said Baker Jones, a librarian at the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire.
Schneider said he was scheduled to be in Israel on Monday for a conference regarding the Abraham Accords, the series of agreements normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states. What should have been a time to celebrate the idea that Jews and Arabs can live together in peace was destroyed, he said.
“Hamas believes Israel should be eliminated and Jews should be murdered,” he said.
Support for Israel in Congress is ironclad, Schneider said. A bipartisan resolution supporting Israel and condemning Hamas was introduced in the House with more than 300 co-sponsors, and he's proposed a measure calling for $2 billion to help Israel replenish the Iron Dome missile defense system.
“Israel has no better friend than the United States. And the United States has no better friend than Israel,” he said.
Other leaders attending the event Tuesday included state Rep. Mary Beth Canty of Arlington Heights.
“I just really think that it's important that we stand with the victims of terror,” she said. “It's important to be here today and show our Jewish community that we are with them.”