Israel is fighting three wars in Gaza, according to a consular officer for the Jewish state.

"This is not a war for territory," said Gil Artzyeli, deputy consul general. "The first war is to protect the citizens of Israel, the second war is against Iran and the third war is against lies and disinformation."

Artzyeli flew in from Los Angeles to speak at a community solidarity gathering in support of Israel at the Hebrew Education Alliance in Denver on Monday night. More than 800 people packed the synagogue. About three dozen waved Israeli flags.

Outside, about 50 protesters, many with the Colorado Muslim Council, chanted: "Shame, shame, Israel" and "No more genocide."

A number of the demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and held signs that read: "Stop the genocide in Gaza" and "Justice for Palestinians"

Artzyeli said in the past seven years, 10,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israeli towns. More significantly, in the past three years, 6,000 rockets have been launched against Israeli citizens, even though Israelis pulled out of Gaza in 2005.

"Israel left Gaza to the Gazans and the Palestinian people," he said. "There is no occupation of Gaza."

Artzyeli said the second war is against Iran, which supports Hamas. He drew parallels between the current situation with the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. He noted that after that conflict, there have been no attacks against Israel from Lebanon.

"Hezbollah understands that if it attacks Israel again, it will pay a dear price," he said.

The third war is against disinformation about Israel's actions in Gaza. "What will happen after the end of this war?" he said. "There will be no more rockets against Israel."

Brian Friedman, chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which organized the event, said it was important for the Jewish community to come together to show support for Israel.

Taj Ashaheed, executive director for the Colorado Muslim Council, said it was important that the concerns of the Palestinian people also be heard at the event.

"We understand that there is a lot of support for Israel, but we want to show that there is a lot of people who don't support what's going on," he said.