Comparing the rhetoric of the Israeli left with that of British advocates for remaining in the European Union, Liel Leibovitz notes a common thread of disdain for constituents, which he connects to a shared lack of political success:

[H]ave a chat with anyone who still votes Meretz, though you may have to hurry as there are fewer and fewer of them with each electoral cycle. Catch one on a good day. . . and you will probably hear the following account of all that plagues the state of the Jews: Israelis, goes the leftist narrative, used to be reasonable and genial people. They used to believe in peace, which is why they signed the Oslo Accords and welcomed back Yasir Arafat and strove toward a permanent two-state solution. . . . Then, like a devil out of [the work of the Russian novelist Mikhail] Bulgakov, Netanyahu, a Middle East Mephistopheles, appeared on the scene and, with his dark tricks, poisoned hearts and minds, turning Israelis from a gaggle of glowing Labor-voters into a rabble of benighted boobs, always reaching for their pitchforks and always thirsty for blood. If only reason would prevail, cries the Israeli left, peace would soon return. And if it does not, disaster is almost certain.

Omitted from this story, of course, are a few inconvenient facts, including . . . unrequited Israeli concessions and . . . escalating Palestinian incitement and violence. But bring none of this up with the left, please: only fools and racists still talk about things like terrorism or religion or national pride. . . .

If you’ve listened to the [British] Remainers during these last few weeks, you’ve heard this . . . noxious form of condescension in play. . . . To make their case, the Remainers marched out a phalanx of experts, all of whom sternly warned that departure would be disastrous for this reason or that. They also dialed up the anti-Brexiter rhetoric, accusing EU opponents of being chauvinistic xenophobes and promoting the narrative that only the elderly, the unemployed, or those without formal education supported separation from the EU.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.