Libstein is the mayor of Sha’ar HaNegev, San Diego’s sister region in Israel where he lives. Gantwerk is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County. She lives in San Diego.

s you no doubt know, life in Israel can be complex and challenging. There are many narratives about this ancient land, some of which you may have read recently in essays in The San Diego Union-Tribune that presented the experiences and perspectives of Palestinians.

U.S. ties to Israel are in the spotlight as antisemitism is on the rise and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the news. Two weeks ago, we shared several Palestinian perspectives. Here, we publish essays from an Israeli mayor, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, two representatives from the American Jewish Committee and an academic who has taught courses on the conflict.

We want to share a different, and equally important perspective of challenge, resiliency and hope from the Israeli side of the Gaza border. We write together as the mayor of Sha’ar HaNegev, San Diego’s sister region in Israel’s southern Negev desert, on the border with Gaza, and the CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego.

For a quarter-century, our two communities have built a powerful relationship. Sha’ar HaNegev, a region made up of 10 kibbutzim (agricultural communities) and one moshav (communal farm), sits directly on the border with Gaza. It is a stunningly beautiful place, a favorite of bikers and day trippers, and an area with a diverse human mosaic.

In recent years, the region has experienced a population boom with people coming from across Israel to raise families, despite the specter of living in direct range of ongoing and indiscriminate rocket fire and daily threats from Hamas terrorists attacking through underground tunnels and with incendiary balloons.

We know most Gazans, like us, want to live their lives in peace, have meaningful, well-paying jobs and care for themselves and their families. There is a path forward to make that happen.

This is why the government of Sha’ar HaNegev has embarked on a highly ambitious project called the Arazim Industrial Zone. It will create Israel’s first cross-border employment, training and medical center directly on the Gaza border. When complete, it will provide good jobs for up to 10,000 Gazans. Top universities from around the world will offer educational programs for Gaza citizens, and Gazans will have access to high-quality health care services they are otherwise cut off from.

We know this project is risky. The Gaza border is a tense place. Imagine living in National City knowing al-Qaeda was repeatedly firing rockets into your neighborhood and digging terrorist tunnels from Tijuana. In May 2021, Hamas rockets fell on Sha’ar HaNegev for 11 consecutive days. Hamas governs Gaza, and it has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and the European Economic Union, among many others.

Due to this constant threat, a study found nearly 40 percent of residents who live in towns near Gaza suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome and that 14 percent still experienced traumatic symptoms four months after the fighting ceased. Here, every home and building includes a bunker or steel- or concrete-reinforced safe room, because when terrorists launch rockets, civilians have only seconds to get to safety.

Residents say life in Sha’ar HaNegev is 95 percent heaven, 5 percent hell. However, those who live in Sha’ar HaNegev do not let living under threat in plain sight of Hamas rocket launchers define them. They are more focused on building a remarkable, resilient community that cares for every individual, as a Jewish saying goes, “from birth to 120,” which is why so many people want to live here.

Admittedly, peace with our neighbors may be a stretch right now. Although many of the nearly 2 million Gazans suffer from poverty and a lack of opportunity, Hamas leadership has funneled billions of dollars in foreign aid to Gaza into arms and military equipment and, sadly, into the pockets of corrupt leaders, rather than into building hospitals, schools and bridges or electrical, sewage and water purification systems to make the lives of ordinary Gazans better. Those conditions perpetuated by Hamas breed resentment and put us all at risk.

Yet we remain optimistic about Sha’ar HaNegev. We essentially have no choice. That is why the Arazim project is being built.

Peace instead of terror. Jobs instead of rockets. Transparency instead of corruption. Hope where Hamas does not allow hope to exist. There is a better way. And it is just across the border.

Get Weekend Opinion on Sunday mornings

Editorials, Commentary, Reader Reaction and a touch of Steve Breen delivered every Sunday.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

U.S. ties to Israel are in the spotlight as antisemitism is on the rise and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the news. Two weeks ago, we shared several Palestinian perspectives. Here, we publish essays from an Israeli mayor, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, two representatives from the American Jewish Committee and an academic who has taught courses on the conflict.

I deeply believe that the great majority of the Israeli people, Jews and Arab alike, want and are ready by now to live in peace.

The tools for understanding antisemitism are before us. It’s time for us all to use them.

Tijuana marks its 133rd anniversary Monday. Here, the city’s mayor, a tourism official, an entrepreneur, an executive with the Cross-Border Initiatives program at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, a TV travel show host, a filmmaker and an executive at Tijuana Innovadora write about Tijuana.

There is a new trend in Tijuana, and it has to do with Americans deciding to move to the city to live and to commute to work in San Diego.

To understand Tijuana’s economy, you have to understand the reflex events of America’s economy that change course every decade.

Get Weekend Opinion on Sunday mornings

Editorials, Commentary, Reader Reaction and a touch of Steve Breen delivered every Sunday.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service Sign Up For Our Newsletters