Two-state supporters are well accustomed to the criticism that separation between Israelis and Palestinians is an idea whose time has passed. That criticism often centers on feasibility, and frequently comes from people who support two states conceptually, but point to Israeli settlement activity being so extensive that it can no longer be rolled back. Yet there is another type of criticism of two states that is gaining ground, and disturbingly so since October 7, encapsulated by Tareq Baconi’s guest essay in the New York Times this week. This type of denunciation of two states isn’t actually ..read more

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that checked many important Israeli boxes. It called for a temporary ceasefire for the duration of Ramadan that should then lead to a lasting and sustainable ceasefire, rather than calling for a permanent ceasefire now. In the very same clause as the one calling for a temporary ceasefire, it demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs.” It deplored acts of terrorism and reiterated that taking hostages is prohibit ..read more

After Senator Chuck Schumer called out Israeli extremism on the Senate floor last week (along with the lesser but far more noticed point of calling for new Israeli elections), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blasted back. He accused Schumer of “opposing the people of Israel” on American Sunday talk shows and instructed security officials not to meet with Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf in apparent retaliation. Meanwhile, Donald Trump accused American Jews who vote for Democrats as being Israel-haters and also self-hating Jews. Each side’s involvement in the other’s politics is fron ..read more

When over one hundred Palestinians were killed last Thursday during a chaotic effort to send a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza, it was perhaps the most dispiriting episode to take place since Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel. It was dispiriting because of the horrendous loss of life. It was dispiriting because it happened in the course of an effort to alleviate human suffering in Gaza. And it was dispiriting because the immediate result was a furious argument over what was the precise cause of death for the Palestinians who lost their lives: were ..read more

When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a one-page-plus-one-paragraph document encompassing his plan for what should happen next in Gaza, it was following months of criticism that he had turned into Dr. No with regards to Gaza’s day after. Netanyahu had consistently voiced his opposition to various things—no Hamas, no Palestinian Authority, no UNRWA, no porous border with Egypt, no timetable for a return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza—but had not put forward any alternative plans for what should happen. If there is one thing that is clear following the release of Netanyahu’s ..read more

When President Biden issued an executive order two weeks ago aimed at combating violence in the West Bank by enabling sanctions on anyone engaging in or complicit in terrorism, property destruction, threats, or intimidation against civilians, it was the culmination of years of warnings about settler violence. These warnings came not only from the United Nations or foreign countries, but from the Biden administration, members of Congress, and American Jewish organizations. They also came after IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar warned Israel’s cabinet about settler ..read more

Many Israelis and American Jews instinctively roll their eyes when someone talks about the “international community.” If the conversation turns to the United Nations, distrust often morphs into disdain. The double standards to which many feel Israeli behavior is subjected, the laughable and simultaneously inconceivable inclusion of serial human rights abusers on U.N. bodies dedicated to investigating rights abuses, and the disproportionate focus on Israeli behavior by the U.N. and by human rights organizations create an environment in which Israel feels as if it is pitted against the world. Th ..read more

After Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s insistence last Thursday that anyone speaking about the day after him is actually speaking about a Palestinian state, and that Israel’s requirement to always have security control of all territory west of the Jordan River is fundamentally at odds with Palestinian sovereignty, the debate over what Netanyahu actually meant began to rage. Netanyahu and President Joe Biden spoke for the first time in nearly a month the following day, after which Biden told reporters that Netanyahu had not actually ruled out two states since there are different formulas tha ..read more

Israel suffered an ugly terrorist attack on Monday in a spot where such attacks are uncommon. Two Palestinian cousins from a village outside of Hebron stole cars in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ra’anana—a place familiar to many American Jews as a popular landing spot for Anglos making aliyah—and went on a stabbing and ramming spree, killing 79-year-old Edna Bluestein and wounding 18 others. Along with the largest rocket barrage from Gaza in weeks on Tuesday, Israelis were starkly reminded of the ongoing threats to their lives and safety. These attacks, whether they emanate from West Bank Palestinian ..read more

The International Court of Justice begins hearings today on the charge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. As with many allegations against Israel in international institutions, the genocide allegation is an overreach that treats Israel as operating in a vacuum and relies on assuming the absolute worst fact pattern that one could generate for Israeli behavior. The case also relies on a litany of statements from Israelis, both government officials and citizens with no official capacity, advocating all manner of crimes and treating Palestinians as sub-human. A dossier purporting to prove ..read more