Since Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the British Labor party in 2015, his indifference to anti-Semitism within his party’s ranks, friendliness with terrorists, and hostility toward Israel and Zionists have caused mounting public concern. Daniel Johnson assesses the state of affairs:

Corbyn’s long record of support for nations and organizations that are implacably opposed to the West is unprecedented. Rightly, the public is anxious about what this might portend, were he ever to occupy Downing Street. . . . Corbyn takes cognizance only of those Jews (a vanishingly small minority) who share his loathing of Israel—not unlike the [turn-of-the-century] anti-Semitic mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger, who notoriously quipped: “I’ll decide who is a Jew.” . . .

Jeremy Corbyn is a guilty man who protests his innocence while presiding over a purge of any Labor MP who tells the truth. . . . And for what purpose? The Corbyn case is also about politics—electoral politics. In the words of Mehdi Hasan, now the political editor of the Huffington Post and a presenter for Al Jazeera, “anti-Semitism isn’t just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it’s routine and commonplace. . . . It’s our dirty little secret.” In the five years since Hasan made his confession, anti-Semitism has become the “dirty little secret” of another community: the left wing of the Labor party. And there is a connection: the left is targeting Muslim votes. No wonder Corbyn has greeted all accusations of anti-Semitism . . . with indifference or silence.

Instead of challenging this vile prejudice and demanding that Muslim community leaders address the canker in their midst, the Labor party has quietly acquiesced. It tolerates the Corbyn camp’s toadying to anti-Semitic preachers and demagogues. How different the outcome of the Corbyn case might have been if more Muslims had denounced the Labor leader to demonstrate their revulsion at anti-Semitism. . . .

Jews can only be free in a free society. Jews can only have a voice in a democracy that values each individual equally. Jews can only be safe in a land that lives under the rule of law. Britain is such a society. (So is Israel.) It is time for the silent to speak up and sweep away the infamy that now afflicts the Labor party. Jews have played their part, but they are few and it is now for the non-Jewish majority to do the right thing.

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.