Syrians see themselves as officially at war with Israel. But that didn’t stop Israelis from rallying on behalf of Syrian civil war victims on Sunday.

Most Israelis don’t believe Yeshua is the their Messiah. And yet, they tend to follow some of his teaching far more dutifully than most Christians.

For example, the teaching to love your enemies.

Israelis are in a constant battle for survival. Still, as a matter of policy (there are of course bad apples in every society) Israel has no hatred for its sworn enemies.

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated that when they gathered outside the Russian and US embassies in Tel Aviv to protest the international community’s failure to stop the reported massacre of civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

“I’m here doing the only thing I can, because I feel powerless in this ordeal,” one protester told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). “There are people who are suffering, so we have to do something.”

Another protester, Rabbi Hananel Rosen, explained why Israeli Jews would take up the cause of even their most intractable enemies:

“God created the world and everybody in it in the image of God, and if we’re not willing to put our foot down about that then we’ll find ourselves religiously and morally wanting.”