Mothers of soldiers protest US interference in IDF efforts as Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv

Mothers of IDF soldiers in Gaza demonstrated as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv for the fourth time since the Israel-Hamas War began. Demonstrators called on the US government not to stop Israel from fighting, not to stop arming Israel, and not to tie the hands of the IDF. 

The Mothers of Combat Soldiers Foundation, which led the demonstration, unfurled huge signs with pictures of the children of senior US government and military officials dressed in IDF uniforms on the battlefield under the title: “Let our children fight as you would let your children fight.”

The posters feature photoshopped images of President Biden's children, Ashley and Hunter, as well as the son of the US Army Chief of Staff Grant George and the son of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown. The four are depicted wearing IDF uniforms and ostensibly part of the fighting in Gaza.

"If your children were in the war in Gaza today, you would not supply the enemy with gas and supplies. You would not put your child at risk in a dangerous ground mission," the demonstrating mothers said in protest.

US demands Israel ease their offensive

The US has pushed Israel to move to a less intensive, more targeted stage of the war, and has recently suggested that Palestinians displaced to the south of the Gaza Strip be allowed back to the northern part. “Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow,” Blinken said at a press conference with Qatari officials in Doha on Sunday.

“Every time Blinken comes, he brings more and more demands that endanger our soldiers,” Mothers of Combat Soldiers spokesperson Mirit Hoffman, who has a son and a son-in-law fighting in Gaza, told JNS. “It’s a total double standard. The demands that the US administration put on our soldiers go far beyond what America practiced after 9/11, or Pearl Harbor.”

The group says the demands the Biden administration places on IDF soldiers puts them at risk, whereas Hamas terrorists disguise themselves as civilians to carry out attacks.

"The lives of our soldiers come before the lives of the enemy. We demand from the US government – do not stop the fighting for us. Let our soldiers fight, win, and restore security to all the residents of the State of Israel. We ask you to love our children as we love your children, and that their lives will be as important to you as your children's lives are important to us," The Mothers of Combat Soldiers declared at the demonstration.

The Mothers of Combat Soldiers has hundreds of mothers of warriors participating in the campaign in Gaza. The headquarters calls on the Israeli government not to stop the war in Gaza until the destruction of Hamas and the return of the abductees under the slogan: “The lives of our soldiers come before the lives of the enemy.”