Tag Archives: hamas

August 12, 2025 · 1:04 pm

THE LURE OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD

In the past few weeks, several Western countries have announced that they intend to recognize a Palestinian state. France led the way. On July 26, President Emmanuel Macron, in a letter posted on X, announced that France would recognize a Palestinian state when the UN General Assembly meets in September. Three days later, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared that his country too would extend recognition in September at the UN, unless Israel agreed to a cease fire, withdrew from Gaza, and halted West Bank settlements.  The next day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a similar statement. Australia quickly followed suit. At the same time, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that his country would make a formal decision in September. There is no doubt what that decision will be.

Each of these governments believes that recognizing a Palestinian state will advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. Each is wrong.

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January 16, 2025 · 5:39 pm

ONE CHEER FOR THE HOSTAGE DEAL

There is jubilation in Tel Aviv over the news of an apparent cease-fire and hostage-release agreement.

There is also jubilation in Gaza and Ramallah and Tehran (where the deal was hailed as a “victory”). Even the Houthis are celebrating.   

President Biden and President-elect Trump are competing to see who can claim more credit – a competition they may live to regret.

How can so many differing and hostile elements cheer for the same arrangement? Let’s be clear. This is a horrible deal. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill’s comment on democracy, this is the worst outcome to the war in Gaza except for all the other outcomes that have been considered.

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July 1, 2024 · 1:20 pm

ISRAEL AT WAR: FAILURE AND FORTITUDE

Nine months into its war with Hamas, Israel is a nation in a state of paradox.

On the one hand, there is a deep-seated sense of failure.  Hamas, though badly mauled, still exists. Its senior leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, are alive and issuing orders. The organization operates as a statelet, issuing defiant declarations while pretending to negotiate, through intermediaries, with the United States and Israel. It still holds 116 hostages, living or dead.

In the North, 60,000 Israelis remain refugees in their own country, as Hezbollah launches daily rocket attacks, rendering much of the region uninhabitable.

Beyond Israel’s borders, Houthi rebels attack Red Sea shipping.  And of uppermost concern, Iran, the chief sponsor of all this terror, moves ever closer to acquiring weapon-grade fissile material for nuclear weapons. Israel seems unable, and its main ally the United States seems unwilling, to stop Iran.

And yet, in the midst of this overarching sense of failure, something else is going on in Israel, something subtle but evident to visitors.

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December 7, 2023 · 5:09 pm

SHOULD AMERICA LECTURE ISRAEL?

The latest reports from the Gazan “Health Ministry” state that the death toll has topped 16,000.  Of course, such figures must be taken with a grain of salt. The “Health Ministry” officials work for Hamas, a terrorist organization which routinely lies.  Moreover, the number does not distinguish between Hamas soldiers and true civilians. Nor do the figures account for the inhabitants killed by Hamas’s or Islamic Jihad’s own rockets, 20% of which fall into Gaza.

But even allowing for exaggeration and fabrication, there is little doubt that the Gazan civilian death toll far exceeds the number of Israelis and other nationalities murdered by Hamas on October 7. This lack of “proportionality” has become a problem for the Biden administration. Its support for Israel, rock solid right after October 7, has softened and become more qualified as the toll increases.

On his third trip to the Middle East since the war began, Secretary of State Blinken declared that America’s support requires Israel’s “compliance with international humanitarian law.” He urged Israel “to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm.”

Two days later, Vice President Harris issued a similar statement after a meeting with Egyptian President el-Sisi: “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said. “Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images coming from Gaza are devastating.”

Are these lectures deserved?

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