In 1885, the British diplomat and adventurer Richard Francis Burton published his translation of One Thousand and One Nights, the famed collection of Arabic tales. Benjamin Ivry examines Burton’s attitude toward Jews:

Historians have suggested that Burton, an explorer and ethnologist, resented the Jews for thwarting his diplomatic career when he was stationed in Syria in the aftermath of the Damascus blood libel [of 1840, where local Jews were falsely accused of murdering a Capuchin monk]. Yet Burton’s attitude to Jews was complex and sometimes contradictory. When he died in 1890, the [London] Jewish Chronicle termed his references to Jews “usually, if not invariably, marked by the tolerance and respect of a scholar.” In an 1869 account of his work as a consul in Brazil, Burton wrote, “Had I a choice of race, there is none to which I would belong more willingly than the Jewish.”

But he also authored The Jew, the Gypsy, and El Islam, a book never published in full during his lifetime. Much of it consisted of a translation of an anti-Semitic French account of the Damascus blood libel. Although [this book] lauds Jews for their intelligence and the longevity [of their religion], it also observes that “their immorality is proverbial,” they are prone to “lying and cowardice,” and the Talmud is “vindictive.”

But then there are the Jews, and Jewish connections, found in One Thousand and One Nights itself:

Orientalists have suggested that the storytelling framework of Scheherazade itself was inspired by the biblical book of Esther. According to Persian tradition, Scheherazade was the mother-in-law of King Ahasuerus, Esther’s husband, who also enjoyed having stories told to him at night. The researcher Victor Bochman asserts that Jews contributed stories to The Arabian Nights, resulting in many Jewish characters in the narratives, and some of the most devoted readers of the book have been Jews as well. Among the former are accounts of pious Jews, appearing to echo talmudic and midrashic legends.

The editors of the Wall Street Journal rightly call the Biden administration’s new policy an arms embargo. (Subscription required.)

The administration would like to focus on the denial of 2,000-pound bombs, which it says are too destructive. Never mind that a professional force can employ them in a manner that restricts the radius of damage. Mr. Biden is also halting a shipment of 500-pound bombs and holding up Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which convert unguided bombs into precision “smart” bombs. Politico reports that small-diameter bombs are being withheld. The Journal adds that the Biden administration has been sitting on a deal that includes tank shells and mortar rounds.

The message from the White House, in other words, is that Israel shouldn’t have large bombs or small bombs, dumb bombs or smart bombs, and let it do without tanks and artillery too. Now isn’t a good time to send the weapons, you see, because Israel would use them.

But it’s even worse than that: withholding the JDAMs in effect encourages Israel to use dumb bombs in instances when precision weapons would be more effective, and less likely to cause harm to bystanders. And then there is the twisted logic behind the decision:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other U.S. officials explain that the goal of the embargo—which they present as a “pause” or “review”—is to prevent a wider Israeli attack on the Hamas stronghold of Rafah. This is the terrorists’ reward for using civilians as human shields.

It hasn’t been four weeks since Iran attacked Israel directly, in the largest drone attack in history, plus 150 or so ballistic and cruise missiles. . . . Israel needs to be ready now, and its enemies need to know the U.S. stands behind it.