Ever since the July firebombing of a Palestinian home that killed three, the Israeli left—not to mention American and European media—have insinuated that the Jews charged with this terrorist deed were influenced by endemic and inflammatory rhetoric on the part of religious-Zionist rabbis. The truth, writes Evelyn Gordon, is very different:

Today’s Jewish terror doesn’t happen because of the rabbis. It is a protest against the rabbis, staged by young Jewish extremists. They regard the rabbis as too moderate and willing to compromise. They consider the rabbis Dov Lior and Yitzḥak Ginsburgh—whose names are whispered in television studios as the arch-terrorists of our generation—to be moderates because they don’t back violence.

The problem with the Jewish extremists of today is not the places they study but the fact that they don’t study. If they were students in Lior’s much-maligned Nir yeshiva in Kiryat Arba instead of wandering the hilltops of the West Bank, probably they wouldn’t have gone out and set fire to a family home in the dark of night.

The proof is [this]: none of Lior’s students is involved in the current terror activities. If he were to teach [terror], his students would probably follow his teachings. But that is not his way. . . .

Yosef Ḥayim Ben-David, who burned Mohammed Abu Khdeir to death in July 2014, did not grow up in the religious Zionist movement. Nor did the minor who stabbed several Palestinians in Dimona last October. Neither did Shlomo Pinto, who mistakenly stabbed a Jewish man in Kiryat Ata that same month.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.