In an interview with Daniel Johnson, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely explains how Israel can do a better job explaining itself abroad:

There are two Israeli stories. One is of modern Israel—a modern state, re-established in 1948. . . . This story is problematic. Now I am, of course, a Zionist, and I think the Zionist movement is maybe one of the biggest miracles of the 20th century if not all humankind—re-establishing a state after 2,000 years in exile. But what is missing from the story is: what makes a bunch of people coming from Russia, Yemen, Morocco, Britain, [and] America re-create a state in the Middle East? . . .

[There’s a tale of Chaim Weizmann’s] response to a member of the House of Lords who asked, “Mr. Weizmann, why do you insist on having Israel in the Middle East, this is a very dangerous area.” He said, “Excuse me, Mr. Minister, why do you insist on going all the way to Brighton to visit your mother, when there are so many old ladies in London?” . . .

[S]ome people say that Israel was established after the Holocaust because the world felt bad about the whole thing. I don’t like that narrative. . . . I think we should tell the big story, and the big story is 3,000 years of Jewish history. . . . [B]y putting the Israeli policy [vis-à-vis the Palestinians] in the center [of our rhetoric] we lost the real narrative of our country. The real narrative . . . is [about] why we are there. . .

[First we need to make] a very clear statement of the fact that this is our country; we don’t apologize for it; we don’t apologize for being occupiers because we’re not; we would like to have co-existence with our neighbors. We have proved throughout all the years of our existence, from the declaration of independence of David Ben-Gurion to our current prime minister, that we want peace. I think we will prove that to the world. We don’t need to re-approve that message all the time. It’s very clear that most Israelis want to live peacefully and that we are also willing to defend ourselves if it’s needed.

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.