DALLAS — The shockwaves of the terrorist attack in southern Israel continue to reverberate around the world, including Dallas, where a 5th generation Texan and former Israeli soldier admits the tears are difficult to subdue.
"It is just like an attack on the Jewish psyche and soul. An attack on Israel, on America, on democracies everywhere," Ellie Adelman told WFAA. "And your neighbors that are here in Dallas that are Jewish are really suffering."
Adelman is the Dallas director of the Jewish National Fund-USA: the non-profit, active in promoting the rebuilding and expansion of Israel for more than a century. But at the age of 22, she served in as a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces near the borders of Jordan and Egypt. Her father is a veteran of the Yom Kippur that took place in October of 1973, which makes this October attack by Hamas even more painful to comprehend.
"They do not want Israel to exist. They want all of us dead. They want us gone. There is no peace. There is no two-state solution with them," she said of Hamas.
Adelman said friends and colleagues are among the dead, missing and captured. And others are among the 300,000 reservists who are being called to active duty with the IDF.
"It should not just be scary for the Jewish people. It should be scary for every single person living in America right now," she said of the attacks. "Just stay strong and support Israel. Do what you can. Post, don't look away, and give and help our brothers and our sisters because they really need us right now."
President Biden, on Tuesday, pledged full American support to Israel. In an address from the White House, Biden said that the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, including eight squadrons of attack and support aircraft, is being sent to the eastern Mediterranean along with other United States assets.
"This was an act of sheer evil," Biden said of the Hamas assault on civilians that has left more than 1,000 Israelis dead and hundreds of Palestinians dead from Israeli reprisals.
Biden said at least 14 Americans are known to be among the dead with an untold number believed among the 100-plus captured by Hamas to be used as human shields.
"In violation of every code of human morality. It's abhorrent," Biden said. "So in this moment we must be crystal clear. We stand with Israel. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed with no regard to who pays the price."
"This is not about party of politics. This is about the security of our world," he said. "Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel's back."
Israeli officials have ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip as it retaliates for the largest and deadliest incursion into its territory in decades. Meanwhile, Hamas is threatening to respond to the Israeli bombing campaign by executing Israeli civilians its fighters took hostage, and making video recordings of their deaths if the Israeli air strikes continue.