Letty. I am mostly a fan of yours and I, and many who think like me, share your horror at the deaths of so many Palestinians in Gaza. What I always find missing in these justifiably empathic writings, however, is anything approaching an articulate alternative to the way Israel is conducting this war. The news media try to make this about Netanyahu; his radical vision for Israel and his legal jeopardy. Yet, that is not accurate. Benny Gantz, a Centrist in the opposition, joined the war cabinet to create a unified front. The conduct of this war is a reflection of his thinking, as well as the thinking of most Israelis across the political spectrum. Netanyahu does not determine the way this war is conducted even though he tries to make it appear that way to feed his political base. So, please, don't just say what Israel should NOT do, offer a credible path to addressing the military problem that is Hamas. I have always been opposed to the settlements on the West Bank and am in favor of a two state solution, while also aware that this is easily sloganized and complicated to implement. Ehud Olmert was featured on Fareed Zakariah's program today without any examination of why the plan he offered to the PA and Abbas was simply rejected. Olmert wrote later in a Washington Post op-ed: “To this day, I cannot understand why the Palestinian leadership did not accept the far-reaching and unprecedented proposal I offered them… It would be worth exploring the reasons that the Palestinians rejected my offer and preferred, instead, to drag their feet, avoiding real decisions.” So, what is to be done? But... make it realistic. If you have read this, thank you for listening. Elisha Fisch
Letty. I am mostly a fan of yours and I, and many who think like me, share your horror at the deaths of so many Palestinians in Gaza. What I always find missing in these justifiably empathic writings, however, is anything approaching an articulate alternative to the way Israel is conducting this war. The news media try to make this about Netanyahu; his radical vision for Israel and his legal jeopardy. Yet, that is not accurate. Benny Gantz, a Centrist in the opposition, joined the war cabinet to create a unified front. The conduct of this war is a reflection of his thinking, as well as the thinking of most Israelis across the political spectrum. Netanyahu does not determine the way this war is conducted even though he tries to make it appear that way to feed his political base. So, please, don't just say what Israel should NOT do, offer a credible path to addressing the military problem that is Hamas. I have always been opposed to the settlements on the West Bank and am in favor of a two state solution, while also aware that this is easily sloganized and complicated to implement. Ehud Olmert was featured on Fareed Zakariah's program today without any examination of why the plan he offered to the PA and Abbas was simply rejected. Olmert wrote later in a Washington Post op-ed: “To this day, I cannot understand why the Palestinian leadership did not accept the far-reaching and unprecedented proposal I offered them… It would be worth exploring the reasons that the Palestinians rejected my offer and preferred, instead, to drag their feet, avoiding real decisions.” So, what is to be done? But... make it realistic. If you have read this, thank you for listening. Elisha Fisch
How Israel Quietly Crushed Early American Jewish Dissent on Palestine
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/03/israel-our-palestine-question-zionism-american-jews/