As Israel heads into what appears to be a wider confrontation with Lebanon, it seems an apt time to consider one of the country’s great intellectuals and diplomats, Charles Malik (1906–1987). Martin Kramer examines Malik’s career and ideas, and analyzes what he understood about the West that Edward Said didn’t, and vice-versa. Deeply Christian and desirous of a strong relationship between Lebanon and the West, Malik was also an anti-Zionist. Yet, argues Kramer, “he showed a more profound understanding of the historical forces that produced Israel than any Arab in his generation,” and eventually came to admire aspects of the country. (Video, 27 minutes.)

The former Israeli chief justice Aharon Barak recently warned that the country could be headed toward civil war due to Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire the head of the Shin Bet, and the opposition thereto. To Amichai Attali, such comments are both “out of touch with reality” and irresponsible—as are those of Barak’s political opponents:

Yes, there is tension and stress, but there is also the unique Israeli sense of solidarity. Who exactly would fight in this so-called civil war? Try finding a single battalion or military unit willing to go out and kill their own brothers and sisters—you won’t. They don’t exist. About 7 percent of the population represents the extremes of the political spectrum, making the most noise. But if we don’t come to our senses, that number might grow.

And what about you, leader of [the leftwing party] The Democrats and former deputy IDF chief, Yair Golan? You wrote that the soldiers fighting Hamas in Gaza are pawns in Netanyahu’s political survival game. Really? Is that what the tens of thousands of soldiers on the front lines need to hear? Or their mothers back home? Do you honestly believe Netanyahu would sacrifice hostages just to stay in power? Is that what the families of those hostages need right now?

Israeli democracy will not collapse if Netanyahu fires the head of the Shin Bet—so long as it’s done legally. Nor will it fall because demonstrators fill the streets to protest. They are not destroying democracy, nor are they terrorists working for Hamas.