Henderson state Sen. Robby Mills says a recent trip to Israel has shown him that peace in that area of the world may always be tenuous.
“If there ever is peace, it’s going to be fragile, at best,” he said.
Mills said he gained a massive amount of understanding during the June 9-16 trip when he traveled with a group of state legislators from across the country. It was funded by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
After the trip, Mills said there were three takeaways that stayed with him. First was his opinion that a future peace would be fragile. Second, he said that the political situation between Israel and Palestine is “a lot more complicated than it appears, regardless of which side you think is right.”
Third, he said with the knowledge he took in during the trip, he will do what is possible to ensure that Jewish people feel safe in Kentucky.
The touring group Mills was a part of consisted of about 20 Americans, 15 of which were legislators, some spouses, a handful of officials from CAM and three to four security guards.
It is a different world, demonstrated by the instructions Mills said was told to him: “When you hear sirens go off, lay down and put your hands on your head because you’ve got about 15 seconds before something happens.”
During the stay, Mills visited an intentional community, called a kibbutz, about a half-mile from the Gaza Strip, and he also spoke to people who had a connection to the Nova Festival, a celebration where Hamas terrorists initiated a surprise attack on Oct. 7, killing more than 360 people and taking some 40 hostages. The attacks on the whole occurring at towns near the border with the Gaza Strip that day killed some 1,200 Israelis, according to several sources.
He said there was a woman who ran seven hours to get away from Hamas after the Nova massacre, and another woman who lost her mother, brother-in-law and nephew in the attack.
He also heard from an Israeli professor, an expert on the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, who said Palestinian children are sent to terrorist camps to learn to become terrorists.
He said staying in Israel for the week, there were some moments of nervousness. During one trip, Mills’ contingent was about 2/3 of the way to its destination in northern Israel, when the bus pulled off to the side of the road. Twenty minutes later, they turned back because Hezbollah was shooting rockets near their planned destination.
Many commentators and leaders have talked about a two-state solution through the years, but Mills said he doesn’t see how that could occur because of what he saw. the two populations are essentially mixed-in together throughout.
“It’s very mixed all the way through,” Mills said, noting that the neighborhood of one group might be right next to that of the other side.
To reach a two-state solution, he said, many, many people would have to pick up and move from their homes, which people who’ve been living in place for generations don’t want to do.
Many Democrats and progressives nationally have been angered by the approach that Israel, namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has taken post the Oct. 7 terrorism acts. Some estimates show that war and bombing in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. Additionally, aid and food have been cut off at times, causing even more difficulties in daily life there, and thousands upon thousands more have been displaced from their homes.
Mills said in his short time there he didn’t talk to a Palestinian or anyone who offered a more sympathetic viewpoint to everyday Palestinians.
He did say that many Israelis he spoke with were more moderate with a sort of questioning mindset of why “can’t we all get along and cool things down?”
Mills thinks that the years of both sides believing the other is encroaching on its holy ground only belonging to “just their culture” might keep that from ever occurring.
Mills said the trip has helped him to be “more aware of antisemitic language that I may not have been aware of before.” It has pushed him to try to stem some of the antisemitic rhetoric that has arisen around the country since the Oct. 7 attack and subsequent counterattacks. He wants to make sure that hate crime legislation in the state covers antisemitic actions.
The main thing Mills sees for the state after his trip is to ensure that “Kentucky is a safe place for Jewish people to live and call home.”
