On December 9, 1917, as the third full year of World War I drew to a close, British forces captured the historical Jewish capital from the Ottomans. Hanukkah began that evening. Then, on December 11, General Edmund Allenby entered the city and read a proclamation. For the most part, local Jews greeted the arrival of the British with joy. Lenny Ben-David describes this atmosphere. (Several historical photographs can be found at the link below.)

After General Allenby departed from the Old City, officers and the photographer, George Westmoreland, made their way to the Western Wall. Two pictures in the British Imperial War Museum show Jewish worshippers and British officers, who stood at the narrow alley’s northern entrance.

Westmoreland’s pictures were taken at the “Jews’ Wailing Wall” on December 11, 1917. The shadows indicate that the day was getting late. . . . The first picture at the Kotel is fascinating. Upon enlarging the photograph, one can see an officer holding what appears to be a Torah scroll. Between the soldiers and the Wall is a small table, a curiosity considering that until the day before, the Turkish masters of the city banned all furniture at the Jewish site.

Was the table there to hold a Hanukkah menorah? Apparently, that was its purpose.

An official British military report on the Jerusalem victory likened the 1917 liberation to the defeat and ouster of the Seleucid Greeks by the Maccabees and attributed this [comparison] to General Allenby himself.

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.