Yitzḥak Navon, who died last week, was a playwright, poet, and statesman who served as president of Israel from 1978 to 1983. Reflecting on Navon’s life and legacy, Marc Angel looks to the patriarch Isaac:

In this week’s Torah portion, we read a famous passage that had been uttered by our forefather Isaac. When he was trying to determine the identity of the son who stood before him, Isaac said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” While this verse is often understood as a sign of confusion on Isaac’s part, it also can be understood in another way. . . .

[Previously], Isaac had favored Esau, who was strong, ruddy, and warlike. But he must also have realized that a nation cannot be founded upon brute force alone. . . . When Jacob appeared before Isaac, he was dressed as though he were Esau. I believe Isaac saw through the ruse—but was very impressed. Now he understood: Jacob was not simply a passive, quiet idealist; he was ingenious and gutsy; he was able to outsmart Esau. Isaac then said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob”: it is a sweet, gentle, and kind voice. But “the hands are the hands of Esau”: Jacob had mustered the inner strength to take risks, to combat his brother.

The combination of a peace-loving voice and strong arms willing to wage battle was the right combination for a leader of a nation. . . . I think the words of our forefather Isaac can be aptly applied to our modern-day Yitzḥak Navon. His voice was the voice of peace, tolerance, mutual respect. He exuded kindness, warmth, [and] a perpetual smile. But his hands were the hands of Esau. When necessary, Yitzḥak Navon stood strong and courageously to defend his nation. He was a warrior who never lost his vision of peace.

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.