"Netanyahu's decisions may make it a whole lot harder for Jews to wage the battle against antisemitism going forward — but there will be no other choice. There never has been."
What most stimulates me, a non-Jew, to love and support Israel is the images and videos I see of Jews being joyously Jewish. During the Iran bombings I saw videos of Jews in basement bomb shelters singing and dancing. I have seen soldier's platoons gearing up for the day with prayer. I have seen families celebrating holidays and weddings. These images remind me why I love Israel and love Judaism. Authentic joy no matter what. I search these things out, but a little force-feeding might help you. Am Israel Chai.
Jews comprise approximately 0.2% of the world's population. This is a very small percentage, and despite their relatively small number, Jews have a significant impact on the world. The majority of Jews live in Israel and the United States.
"While I struggle to understand the wisdom of what Netanyahu and his government are doing, I stop short of categorically indicting him for the brutalities that Palestinians continue to endure — in spite of my sympathy for them."
But why not? Why not indict him? Just on a common sense level, who is co-leading his government? Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Not so long ago, I remember when Smotrich's notion of a siege and a blockade on aid to Gaza was pretty roundly condemned in places like The Times of Israel as a horrid endorsement of war crimes. This year, for 60 days, it became official Israeli policy.
While that blockade was going on, Smotrich openly bragged that, within a year, Gaza’s entire population will “be confined to a narrow swath of the land.” The rest, of course, will be “utterly destroyed.” Utterly destroyed. Think about that.
And who exactly is restraining Netanyahu right now. Katz? The Likud MKs? Trump, who just tried to intefere in the Israeli judiciary to help his buddy? Mike Huckabee??!! Who? Who are the moderate voices restraining men like Ben-Gvir who are set on utter annihilation? I mean, even Biden, for all of what I believe are his faults in this matter, could actually put SOME kind of restraint on Netanyahu. That is totally gone now.
Part of the reason we have no ceasefire after Israel practically dismantles the whole "Axis of Resistance" sans 1.
Meanwhile, nowadays, Netanyahu's Israel moves forward to fully annex the West Bank, with the approval of the present Administration and no sanctions pushback. Have you seen the reports coming from there? And do you believe they have absolutely no relationship to what's going on in Gaza?
I looked at the article you enclosed here, and I did read it with an open mind (at least, I like to think). But you have to think about the motivations of Israel's government here. The simple fact is that they are not tied to military objectives. The recent Times article, in fact, covers Netanyahu's motives pretty well: he made a deal with the devils (Ben-Gvir and Smotrich) to stay in power indefinitely.
Sorry for the long comment, but I feel I needed to say something. For what it's worth, I have written a good amount about the subject (https://davidsalzillo.substack.com/p/words-of-warning-from-the-west-bank), and I would be happy to do a guest post here to share my own perspective. But, if nothing else, I hope you will approach my comments here with an open mind as well.
I understand what you're saying, David, and I appreciate you taking the time to express it all. I agree with parts of your case, but as I explained in the piece, I view the war as complex. As a proud Jew and Zionist, it is impossible for me to evaluate Netanyahu's actions without keeping Oct. 7 front of mind, and how Hamas continues to hold innocent hostages. Even if one conceded every point you made above about this government's decisions, Hamas' original crimes and refusal to consider ANY coexistence with Jews gives Netanyahu the perfect cover (indeed, reasons) to go overboard. What I'm saying is that even though I, myself, have personal objections to what I'm seeing, it's just not that cut and dried. Hamas is a murderous terrorist regime that is still armed and still holding Israelis. They choose to do this, in spite of what is happening to Palestinians.
Thank you in turn for your reply. If I could just say one thing more...
Why did Hamas do what it did? Precisely because a man like Netanyahu was in power. Precisely because Sinwar knew that 1) Israel was divided enough so that he could have a better chance of a successful attack and 2) that Netanyahu and his right-wing allies would manipulate Israeli trauma and plunge Israel into the type of conflict that it is in now.
Because, that, frankly, is what Netanyahu and his allies have done. That is why I mention how what once was unthinkable (a 60-day full blockade on Gaza) has THIS YEAR transformed into the official Israeli policy. No matter what kind of victories Netanyahu can claim, Israel is playing right into Sinwar's dead hands. With Gazans as "the necessary sacrifices," of course.
One more point. In this article, you said that it was not just the number of Jews killed on October 7 by Hamas, but its INTENTION that justifies Israel's military response. You rightly point out that intention matters.
But yet Netanyahu's intentions and the intentions of the others don't factor in at all? If Netanyahu is keeping this war going merely to stay in power and to please the Ben-Gvirs and Smotrichs hell-bent from their birth on destroying the Palestinian people, then what does that tell you about THEIR war?
Perhaps I can put it to you this way: you say, "Two weeks ago I wrote a plea for Netanyahu to try to make a deal — in good faith — to get the remaining hostages back and end the war. But I am all too aware of how easy it is for me to make such a demand from the safety of a keyboard, wearing a #BringThemHomeNow bracelet in an America that faces no immediate threat to our mortal existence."
But trust your gut. You're not wrong. It is exactly because you DON'T have that fear of an immediate threat that you can sometimes judge the situation better. That, in a nutshell, is why Sinwar's plans depended on Israel feeling like it DID face that immediate threat.
What most stimulates me, a non-Jew, to love and support Israel is the images and videos I see of Jews being joyously Jewish. During the Iran bombings I saw videos of Jews in basement bomb shelters singing and dancing. I have seen soldier's platoons gearing up for the day with prayer. I have seen families celebrating holidays and weddings. These images remind me why I love Israel and love Judaism. Authentic joy no matter what. I search these things out, but a little force-feeding might help you. Am Israel Chai.
Bless you, Mary. - MG
Great article! It’s actually 0.2% not 0.02% though.
.2 percent of America, .02 percent of the world.
I still think you are one decimal point off in both, which is also what your link says. I am ok to agree to disagree!
Jews comprise approximately 0.2% of the world's population. This is a very small percentage, and despite their relatively small number, Jews have a significant impact on the world. The majority of Jews live in Israel and the United States.
"While I struggle to understand the wisdom of what Netanyahu and his government are doing, I stop short of categorically indicting him for the brutalities that Palestinians continue to endure — in spite of my sympathy for them."
But why not? Why not indict him? Just on a common sense level, who is co-leading his government? Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Not so long ago, I remember when Smotrich's notion of a siege and a blockade on aid to Gaza was pretty roundly condemned in places like The Times of Israel as a horrid endorsement of war crimes. This year, for 60 days, it became official Israeli policy.
While that blockade was going on, Smotrich openly bragged that, within a year, Gaza’s entire population will “be confined to a narrow swath of the land.” The rest, of course, will be “utterly destroyed.” Utterly destroyed. Think about that.
And who exactly is restraining Netanyahu right now. Katz? The Likud MKs? Trump, who just tried to intefere in the Israeli judiciary to help his buddy? Mike Huckabee??!! Who? Who are the moderate voices restraining men like Ben-Gvir who are set on utter annihilation? I mean, even Biden, for all of what I believe are his faults in this matter, could actually put SOME kind of restraint on Netanyahu. That is totally gone now.
Part of the reason we have no ceasefire after Israel practically dismantles the whole "Axis of Resistance" sans 1.
Meanwhile, nowadays, Netanyahu's Israel moves forward to fully annex the West Bank, with the approval of the present Administration and no sanctions pushback. Have you seen the reports coming from there? And do you believe they have absolutely no relationship to what's going on in Gaza?
I looked at the article you enclosed here, and I did read it with an open mind (at least, I like to think). But you have to think about the motivations of Israel's government here. The simple fact is that they are not tied to military objectives. The recent Times article, in fact, covers Netanyahu's motives pretty well: he made a deal with the devils (Ben-Gvir and Smotrich) to stay in power indefinitely.
Sorry for the long comment, but I feel I needed to say something. For what it's worth, I have written a good amount about the subject (https://davidsalzillo.substack.com/p/words-of-warning-from-the-west-bank), and I would be happy to do a guest post here to share my own perspective. But, if nothing else, I hope you will approach my comments here with an open mind as well.
I understand what you're saying, David, and I appreciate you taking the time to express it all. I agree with parts of your case, but as I explained in the piece, I view the war as complex. As a proud Jew and Zionist, it is impossible for me to evaluate Netanyahu's actions without keeping Oct. 7 front of mind, and how Hamas continues to hold innocent hostages. Even if one conceded every point you made above about this government's decisions, Hamas' original crimes and refusal to consider ANY coexistence with Jews gives Netanyahu the perfect cover (indeed, reasons) to go overboard. What I'm saying is that even though I, myself, have personal objections to what I'm seeing, it's just not that cut and dried. Hamas is a murderous terrorist regime that is still armed and still holding Israelis. They choose to do this, in spite of what is happening to Palestinians.
Thank you in turn for your reply. If I could just say one thing more...
Why did Hamas do what it did? Precisely because a man like Netanyahu was in power. Precisely because Sinwar knew that 1) Israel was divided enough so that he could have a better chance of a successful attack and 2) that Netanyahu and his right-wing allies would manipulate Israeli trauma and plunge Israel into the type of conflict that it is in now.
Because, that, frankly, is what Netanyahu and his allies have done. That is why I mention how what once was unthinkable (a 60-day full blockade on Gaza) has THIS YEAR transformed into the official Israeli policy. No matter what kind of victories Netanyahu can claim, Israel is playing right into Sinwar's dead hands. With Gazans as "the necessary sacrifices," of course.
One more point. In this article, you said that it was not just the number of Jews killed on October 7 by Hamas, but its INTENTION that justifies Israel's military response. You rightly point out that intention matters.
But yet Netanyahu's intentions and the intentions of the others don't factor in at all? If Netanyahu is keeping this war going merely to stay in power and to please the Ben-Gvirs and Smotrichs hell-bent from their birth on destroying the Palestinian people, then what does that tell you about THEIR war?
Perhaps I can put it to you this way: you say, "Two weeks ago I wrote a plea for Netanyahu to try to make a deal — in good faith — to get the remaining hostages back and end the war. But I am all too aware of how easy it is for me to make such a demand from the safety of a keyboard, wearing a #BringThemHomeNow bracelet in an America that faces no immediate threat to our mortal existence."
But trust your gut. You're not wrong. It is exactly because you DON'T have that fear of an immediate threat that you can sometimes judge the situation better. That, in a nutshell, is why Sinwar's plans depended on Israel feeling like it DID face that immediate threat.
I'll leave it at that. You have my word. :)
Happy to hear your take on this.