This is true and maddening and makes me so sad. My sister-in-law grew up on the kibbutz attacked on 7 October, and I feel her pain so deeply, but what the Israelis are doing now is a moral outrage so profoundly wrong and criminal that NO excuse is acceptable.
Thank you so much for writing this. Signed, a Jewish-American raised to support Israel unequivocally, and who is horrified by its monstrous treatment of the Palestinian people.
Paul, thanks for this thoughtful piece - simultaneously heartbreaking & hopeful. As a lapsed Catholic, uncle to four kids being raised Jewish, brother-in-law of an Israeli (an IDF veteran and as salt of the earth as one could ever find), *and* a proud progressive who believes in unabridged, equal rights for Palestinians...the post-October 7 conversation, around what it means to navigate all of the inherent competing moral, strategic, political, and human interests can be incredibly difficult. As a result, I'm grateful for your unique insights, compassionate perspective, and measured tone in this incredibly fraught discussion.
I have never understand the U.S.'s fascination with Israel. It's not as though Israel is a major trade partner or a strong defensive ally. And this latest Gaza debacle really ought to be the last straw. Netanyahu is as much of a creep as Trump.
Actually it is both of those things, and usually was a better ally than most in Middle East conflicts. But there's often a tendency to conflate the American Jewish position with that of the Israeli Jewish outlook and... well the latter's definitely taken a turn for the extreme in the last 20 years.
The sailors of the USS Liberty would like to have a word with you about Israel's great allyship. For that matter given we have repeatedly found Israel betrayed us to sell our tech to adversaries and is a huge part of why the entire region hates the US...well it's hard to think how they could be a worse friend. And all at the low low cost of billions of dollars a year in aid which we inexplicably give them.
Oh but they are great friends to Congress people seeking bribes...I mean reelection funds.
Well Israel did end up paying the U.S. government back as compensation so... whoops. Again, it's not always bribes - your issue is a refusal to believe people genuinely believed in Israel as an ideal. Again, ask any Jewish family of the last fifty years and we'll have stories of how much we talk about this in temple.
I'm sure there are many Jewish families that earnestly want a safe homeland. Of course they would after the last thousand years or so. Problem is Israel is not that place and never will be. Israel is instead the direct cause of so much modern antisemitism, in part because Israel cynically equates itself to Jewry world wide do they can cast all opposition as antisemitism.
The Jewish people deserve far better than the fascist hellhole the Zionist created on the bodies of the Palestinians.
The same homeland WAS Israel. And yeah there were other people a little wary of creating one at first compared to regular assimilation. But as you know, the Holocaust really convinced people that line of thinking was obsolete. It's not a cause of antisemitism - just a case of a government getting more right wing over time.
You really aren't paying attention if you can't see how Israel's bloodthirsty genocide of the people who actually belong there, the people from whom the land for "Israel" was stolen.
Unfortunately the lesson the Zionists learned from the Holocaust was that they wanted to be running the concentration camps instead of that, hey, maybe concentration camps are just, you know, bad.
And now the Zionists are literally working with neo-nazis on the American right. How well do you think that's going to end for them? Think this time that the, again LITERAL Nazis, will decide to live and let live with the Jews?
When the history of the state of Israel is written, it will record that Bibi Netanyahu and his collaborators have done far more to destroy Israeli democracy and global status than any terrorist organization.
During the carnage of the George W. Bush misadministration I remarked to a friend that Bin Laden achieved all of his goals by using Bush's ignorance and Cheney's malevolence. Putin is achieving all of his goals by using Trump's ignorance and Vance/Miller/Vought malevolence. It will take decades to recover, if ever.
It's easily explained when you understand the evangelical obsession with John's revelation. They quite simply believe that Christ can't come back without a state called Israel in the world. They'll overlook any and every atrocity of a state smart enough to call itself Israel as a result.
The US and Israel have long had an odd relationship. For decades, the US has given Israel a total amount of economic and military aid in the amount of tens of billions of dollars. The US has rarely pressed Israel on its policies. In fact, Israel acts as if it is the donor nation and the US is the recipient nation. The US gets very little out of this relationship. Sure, Israel is an “ally,” but why wouldn’t Israel be an ally? It’s not like Israel is going to drop the US and ally with Iran. With little political pressure from the US, as most donor nations would do, Israel has been free to become more and more extreme in its policies with the Palestinian people. The most extreme example of this is the horrible genocide going on today in Gaza.
Your humanity and courage are uplifting. The US has known who BN is for about 20 years. Just as the Israeli populace has. This is his private war. Only the Israeli population is in a position to address his presence in power. Just as only Americans are in a position to address the presence of djt and maga in power. Neither population has risen to meet the responsibility. His private war has worsened Israel's long term security. [ Btw, the UK has militarily -- and brutally -- occupied other people's lands.]
Some thoughtful comments, but also demagoguery. When did AIPAC EVER say Israel's "hostile neighbors are dark-complected barbarians"? That's just slander.
Hopefully Israel becomes much less than ally. It should be treated as a pariah state unless and until it decides to stop committing genocide. North Korea is literally a better ally to the US.
It is possible, and probably necessary. But that really depends on how many, or rather, what kind of new Democratic voices get elected to the House and Senate next year. Until then a sympathetic voice will still rule the party, albeit less willing to offer the benefit of the doubt.
But seriously, quit harping on AIPAC and donors. They aren't nearly as powerful as they seem, and critiques often feel like gateways to more disturbing "Jews control everything" conspiracies.
Except AIPAC absolutely are the single most powerful lobbying group in America. Why exactly do we allow foreign governments to bribe our politicians at all?
I've been slapped repeatedly here on Substack for expressing support for Israel, and spittle-sprayed as a war criminal sympathizer. My position remains that Israel cannot be demonized for violating codes of combat that Hamas ignored long before the Hamas rockets flew or bus bombs shredded civilians in Tel Aviv.
I'm not gonna test anyone's patience with a long manifesto here, but Gaza has to accept military occupation by Israel AND full repatriation of all 10/07 hostages before a meaningful peace can begin. Indiscriminately pouring more international aid into the Hamas tunnel fortresses is just gonna gorge the enemy & prolong the suffering. Hamas will continue to ruthlessly starve everyone in Gaza because Israel gets blamed after Hamas has run out of ammo to hit Israeli targets. Gazan civilians are plentiful & Hamas can exploit them freely, with each death & wretched photo blamed on Israel.
I'm never gonna be shamed into taking the side of a death cult of bloodthirsty maniacs who will gladly send their butchery abroad once they run out of Jews to enslave and slaughter.
You deserve such condemnation for equating Israel, a first world modern government with huge military assets to Hamas, little more than a local defense org with pitiful resources and almost no organization.
And yet desire being in a position to act honorably, Israel causes vastly more civilian casualties than these supposed terrorist groups that are supposedly deliberately targeting civilians. Pull the other one.
I recognize we hate each other but you speak as if Israeli casualties are somehow less dead than the Gazan corpses. Hamas proves daily that they're depraved maniacs, but you eagerly take their side.
This is true and maddening and makes me so sad. My sister-in-law grew up on the kibbutz attacked on 7 October, and I feel her pain so deeply, but what the Israelis are doing now is a moral outrage so profoundly wrong and criminal that NO excuse is acceptable.
Thank you so much for writing this. Signed, a Jewish-American raised to support Israel unequivocally, and who is horrified by its monstrous treatment of the Palestinian people.
Paul, thanks for this thoughtful piece - simultaneously heartbreaking & hopeful. As a lapsed Catholic, uncle to four kids being raised Jewish, brother-in-law of an Israeli (an IDF veteran and as salt of the earth as one could ever find), *and* a proud progressive who believes in unabridged, equal rights for Palestinians...the post-October 7 conversation, around what it means to navigate all of the inherent competing moral, strategic, political, and human interests can be incredibly difficult. As a result, I'm grateful for your unique insights, compassionate perspective, and measured tone in this incredibly fraught discussion.
I have never understand the U.S.'s fascination with Israel. It's not as though Israel is a major trade partner or a strong defensive ally. And this latest Gaza debacle really ought to be the last straw. Netanyahu is as much of a creep as Trump.
Actually it is both of those things, and usually was a better ally than most in Middle East conflicts. But there's often a tendency to conflate the American Jewish position with that of the Israeli Jewish outlook and... well the latter's definitely taken a turn for the extreme in the last 20 years.
The sailors of the USS Liberty would like to have a word with you about Israel's great allyship. For that matter given we have repeatedly found Israel betrayed us to sell our tech to adversaries and is a huge part of why the entire region hates the US...well it's hard to think how they could be a worse friend. And all at the low low cost of billions of dollars a year in aid which we inexplicably give them.
Oh but they are great friends to Congress people seeking bribes...I mean reelection funds.
Well Israel did end up paying the U.S. government back as compensation so... whoops. Again, it's not always bribes - your issue is a refusal to believe people genuinely believed in Israel as an ideal. Again, ask any Jewish family of the last fifty years and we'll have stories of how much we talk about this in temple.
I'm sure there are many Jewish families that earnestly want a safe homeland. Of course they would after the last thousand years or so. Problem is Israel is not that place and never will be. Israel is instead the direct cause of so much modern antisemitism, in part because Israel cynically equates itself to Jewry world wide do they can cast all opposition as antisemitism.
The Jewish people deserve far better than the fascist hellhole the Zionist created on the bodies of the Palestinians.
The same homeland WAS Israel. And yeah there were other people a little wary of creating one at first compared to regular assimilation. But as you know, the Holocaust really convinced people that line of thinking was obsolete. It's not a cause of antisemitism - just a case of a government getting more right wing over time.
You really aren't paying attention if you can't see how Israel's bloodthirsty genocide of the people who actually belong there, the people from whom the land for "Israel" was stolen.
Unfortunately the lesson the Zionists learned from the Holocaust was that they wanted to be running the concentration camps instead of that, hey, maybe concentration camps are just, you know, bad.
And now the Zionists are literally working with neo-nazis on the American right. How well do you think that's going to end for them? Think this time that the, again LITERAL Nazis, will decide to live and let live with the Jews?
When the history of the state of Israel is written, it will record that Bibi Netanyahu and his collaborators have done far more to destroy Israeli democracy and global status than any terrorist organization.
The same could be said of trump and his henchmen, who are doing far more damage to America than any terrorist organization could dream of.
During the carnage of the George W. Bush misadministration I remarked to a friend that Bin Laden achieved all of his goals by using Bush's ignorance and Cheney's malevolence. Putin is achieving all of his goals by using Trump's ignorance and Vance/Miller/Vought malevolence. It will take decades to recover, if ever.
It's easily explained when you understand the evangelical obsession with John's revelation. They quite simply believe that Christ can't come back without a state called Israel in the world. They'll overlook any and every atrocity of a state smart enough to call itself Israel as a result.
The US and Israel have long had an odd relationship. For decades, the US has given Israel a total amount of economic and military aid in the amount of tens of billions of dollars. The US has rarely pressed Israel on its policies. In fact, Israel acts as if it is the donor nation and the US is the recipient nation. The US gets very little out of this relationship. Sure, Israel is an “ally,” but why wouldn’t Israel be an ally? It’s not like Israel is going to drop the US and ally with Iran. With little political pressure from the US, as most donor nations would do, Israel has been free to become more and more extreme in its policies with the Palestinian people. The most extreme example of this is the horrible genocide going on today in Gaza.
My two cents: I'm pretty pissed off at the Israeli government, but I will always revere the many jews that I already revere.
Yes.
Your humanity and courage are uplifting. The US has known who BN is for about 20 years. Just as the Israeli populace has. This is his private war. Only the Israeli population is in a position to address his presence in power. Just as only Americans are in a position to address the presence of djt and maga in power. Neither population has risen to meet the responsibility. His private war has worsened Israel's long term security. [ Btw, the UK has militarily -- and brutally -- occupied other people's lands.]
Some thoughtful comments, but also demagoguery. When did AIPAC EVER say Israel's "hostile neighbors are dark-complected barbarians"? That's just slander.
Excellent essay, Paul.
“You don’t have to believe in God, Jews were taught, but you have to believe in Israel.”
I guess I was mistaken. I thought Judaism is a religion, not an ethnicity. Someone help me out here.
Hopefully Israel becomes much less than ally. It should be treated as a pariah state unless and until it decides to stop committing genocide. North Korea is literally a better ally to the US.
It is possible, and probably necessary. But that really depends on how many, or rather, what kind of new Democratic voices get elected to the House and Senate next year. Until then a sympathetic voice will still rule the party, albeit less willing to offer the benefit of the doubt.
But seriously, quit harping on AIPAC and donors. They aren't nearly as powerful as they seem, and critiques often feel like gateways to more disturbing "Jews control everything" conspiracies.
Except AIPAC absolutely are the single most powerful lobbying group in America. Why exactly do we allow foreign governments to bribe our politicians at all?
I've been slapped repeatedly here on Substack for expressing support for Israel, and spittle-sprayed as a war criminal sympathizer. My position remains that Israel cannot be demonized for violating codes of combat that Hamas ignored long before the Hamas rockets flew or bus bombs shredded civilians in Tel Aviv.
I'm not gonna test anyone's patience with a long manifesto here, but Gaza has to accept military occupation by Israel AND full repatriation of all 10/07 hostages before a meaningful peace can begin. Indiscriminately pouring more international aid into the Hamas tunnel fortresses is just gonna gorge the enemy & prolong the suffering. Hamas will continue to ruthlessly starve everyone in Gaza because Israel gets blamed after Hamas has run out of ammo to hit Israeli targets. Gazan civilians are plentiful & Hamas can exploit them freely, with each death & wretched photo blamed on Israel.
I'm never gonna be shamed into taking the side of a death cult of bloodthirsty maniacs who will gladly send their butchery abroad once they run out of Jews to enslave and slaughter.
You deserve such condemnation for equating Israel, a first world modern government with huge military assets to Hamas, little more than a local defense org with pitiful resources and almost no organization.
And yet desire being in a position to act honorably, Israel causes vastly more civilian casualties than these supposed terrorist groups that are supposedly deliberately targeting civilians. Pull the other one.
I recognize we hate each other but you speak as if Israeli casualties are somehow less dead than the Gazan corpses. Hamas proves daily that they're depraved maniacs, but you eagerly take their side.