Barak Weiss, a Tel Aviv jazz impresario, gives a brief account of how this quintessentially American style of music came to the Jewish state, and how Israelis made it their own. (Interview by Noah Phillips.)

The first jazz band [in the land of Israel] was the Police Orchestra during the British mandate. In the 1950s and early 1960s we had some musicians who used to play jazz, but it was all American jazz, the standards. I think the first Israeli jazz album was recorded in the early 1970s. . . .

The distinct difference [that later developed] between the mainstream American sound and the Israeli sound is that we use odd meters. The great American songbook, all the songs by George Gershwin and Cole Porter, etc., which is the basis of American jazz, is all done in 4/4 [time]. But in Israel, because we have klezmer music from Eastern Europe, and the music from Morocco and Yemen, and [many other] types of music, we have all of these odd forms, like 7/4s, and 9/4s, and 11/4s, all these strange and unusual beats.

Another thing is the melodies—you have Middle Eastern melodies, Arab melodies, melodies that come from all over the Diaspora. Every one of the musicians is delving deep into his own heritage, the music that he heard at the Shabbat table, or in the shul, or in the Israeli folk music that we all sing, and mixing his own heritage into jazz.

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.