In the Middle East, globally and at home, the liberal failure has allowed the radicals to take over the narrative. The radical condemnation of Israel is a little too cavalier about waltzing around the October 7 massacre by Hamas. (In wartime, if the first casualty is truth, the second casualty is nuance.) But the basic story of Israel destroying the peace process and pursuing ethnic cleansing and brutalization in the occupied West Bank is all too accurate. With its long-term policy of "Israel right or wrong," the U.S. has its fingerprints all over not only Israel’s current atrocities in Gaza but Israel’s sabotage of the two-state peace process and carnage in the West Bank. All of this not only puts Biden’s re-election at dire risk. It is also a gift for the world’s antisemites. American Jews have enjoyed a respite from antisemitism ever since the Holocaust. But while antisemitism may go into periods of slumber, it never goes away. All it takes is the right spark. For centuries, one of the slanders against Jews has been the charge of dual loyalty. They may look like they are loyal to France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the U.S., you name it, but their real loyalty is to their tribe. Nothing lends credence to that ancient charge of dual loyalty more than Israel demanding total support from American Jews. And if wealthy Jews use their money to pressure universities to repress dissent, that reinforces another ugly stereotype. Face it: The global upsurge in antisemitism, which then takes on a life of its
own, is primarily the responsibility of Israel. And 1967 was also the year of the Six-Day War and Israel’s internationally recognized borders, before the illegal occupation of the West Bank. It is these borders that are part of the peace process and the all-but-ruined two-state solution. Netanyahu’s notion that first Hamas can be destroyed at acceptable cost, and then someone else can be found to govern Gaza, and then some kind of regional settlement can be achieved is lunacy. This has become Biden’s war. Now it has to be Biden’s peace, starting with much tougher constraints on Israel.
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