The State of Israel: “Peace is the only option”

After the Shoah and with the establishment of the State of Israel, the question of war and peace has become a real dilemma for Jews. The massacre perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas on 7 October 2023 has led to a collective (re)traumatisation of Jewish society in Israel and around the world. The long-term consequences are unpredictable, but are already being felt. It is against this background that Rabbi Walter Homolka describes the Jewish problem of war and peace in the State of Israel, from Jewish emancipation in Europe to the settlement of Eretz Israel and the founding of the state in 1948 to the present day: from the question of a just war to the challenge of achieving a just peace.