According to Solly Wolf, the president of the Jewish community of Dubai, there are 1,500 Jews in the United Arab Emirates, most of whom live in that city. These Jews now have a Jewish Community Center, a kosher butcher, a Jewish day school, and a synagogue. A newer, larger synagogue is scheduled to open soon, which will give the local Jewish community a more public profile. Raised in Britain, Wolf was brought to Dubai by his jewelry and textile business. In a rare interview by Ami Magazine, he discusses his own experiences and Jewish life in the Emirates:

It’s difficult to ascertain the exact number, but we believe that there are approximately 1,500 Jews spread out in the seven emirates that make up the country. . . . There are over 150 families in Dubai and others in Abu Dhabi. But there are also Jews elsewhere.

I lived here for years before I met another [Jew]. To my knowledge, I was the only Jew not eating treyf and putting on t’filin. Then a few years ago, I was on the phone with a friend from Asia who asked me where I was planning to be for Rosh Hashanah. I told him that I was thinking of spending it with my kids in Europe, or else I’d just stay in Dubai. “You do know that there’s a Jewish community in Dubai, don’t you?” he asked. I hadn’t.

That’s when I found out that there was a community here, and I spent Rosh Hashanah with them. It was amazing to see Jewish men, women, and children practicing our religion so openly in a Muslim country.

The next project on [the community’s] list, among others, is to build a mikveh. Now that we have kosher food, Jewish people are much more excited about the prospect of coming here. The government of Abu Dhabi is in the process of building something called the Abrahamic House. It’s going to have a mosque, a church, and a synagogue in separate buildings but on the same piece of land. It’s an important symbol of tolerance and is expected to be completed in two or three years. Every Shabbat we recite a prayer in shul for the rulers, government and armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. A musical rendition was recently posted online. It’s very beautiful.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.