OPINION

By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

What the rest of the world will never understand is that, when push comes to shove, every Jew is an Israeli.

It doesn’t matter what passport they have, where they live, what language they speak or what color their skin is, every Jew is an Israeli.

It doesn’t matter if they are ultra-orthodox or ultra-reformed, if they keep Kosher or eat ham-and-cheese sandwiches, if they wear a kittel or an Armani suit.

Or if they have ever even set foot in Eretz Israel.

They are Israelis.

And they each feel the pain and suffering of what Israel endured last week just as much as those on Israeli soil.

Being Jewish — and in turn Israeli — is their blood, their flesh, their bones, rooted not just in religion and ethnicity, but in 5,000 years of tortured history that has become a fundamental part of their DNA.

And even if they should want to deny their Jewish heritage, it is at the very core of their essence, and neither their being nor the rest of the world will ever let them forget that.

They say that if you have three Israelis you have five different political opinions, which may be true as the core of Jewish study is based on debate and discussion, revision and reexamination, personal introspection and external tolerance.

But when it comes to an attack against Israel, every Jewish soul in all the world bleeds and aches.

And all Jews, no matter their particular political stripes or leanings, are united in their condemnation of the savage and blood-hungry murder of innocent men, women and children – especially the children – perpetrated by the barbarous and hate-ridden Hamas assassins.

Hamas believes that the world will forget about its heinous assault on innocent families and move on, and perhaps much of the world will do just that.

But not the Jews, who are, at heart and soul, Israelis.

The horror is etched in their collective memory forever, and Israel will continue to fight for its existence against the abominable creed of hatred that is Hamas, supported by every Israeli, every Jew, in search of HaTivah, the dream of peace that stirs in the heart of every Jewish soul.

Because every Jew is an Israeli.