Dan Ephron’s Killing a King may provide a readable and accurate account of the events leading up to Yitzḥak Rabin’s assassination, writes Seth Mandel, but these merits are outweighed by the author’s “naked ideological agenda.” This causes him to miss the profound realignment in Israeli politics that is Rabin’s real legacy:

The two camps have, [in effect], switched sides. Israel’s left bitterly credits Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, with victory; the two-state solution is dead, they say, and its death throes began that night in 1995. Meanwhile, many of the leaders on Israel’s right, including its past two prime ministers, now essentially express their agreement with the goal of Oslo. The fulfillment of Rabin’s peace process, they say, will be necessary in the long term to secure a viable future for the Jewish state. . . .

All the spin in the world can’t change the fact that the current Likud prime minister stands today to the left of Yitzḥak Rabin in 1995. Yigal Amir received the ultimate punishment for his hubris: his monstrous act actually advanced the peace process inside Israel. [But] nothing anyone can do seems able to advance the process for the Palestinians, who want none of it.

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.