Having attended the recent AIPAC convention, Alex Joffe reports on the speeches by the various presidential candidates, and especially on the one speech that garnered so much attention before and after:

You, the average well-educated, well-intentioned listener, sit there with your stubborn preconceptions, smug in your ability to filter fact from fancy, hyperbole from reality. But with a rising and falling cadence, the repetition of “believe me,” the mugging, the finger-waving, and—it must said—the recitation of actual facts about Iran, Palestinian incitement, and terrorism, the crowd—including you—is sucked in.

“Believe me,” [Donald Trump] said, over and over. Of course we don’t believe you. You don’t even believe you, do you? Or maybe, just maybe, he does believe himself. By sheer repetition, by understanding that crowds really do want to believe in something today, to hang on to something that is not a shadow, that has substance, resistance is worn down.

It didn’t really matter what he said, but the way he said it. He stayed close to his script and avoided disaster and sounded sort of sensible on the Iran deal (it’s a bad deal), Palestinian terrorism and incitement, and more. Trump’s particular gift is to take a sensible observation and make it sound outrageous (illegal immigration, terrorism, whatever) and to fix it in your mind through excess. . . .

It was simultaneously masterful and preposterous. . . .

The specter of a Trump blowup hung over the entire affair. . . . Everyone expected worse. Of course, the Affair of Trump at AIPAC will be turned into the Worst Insult Ever by a Racist Who Shouldn’t Have Been Invited That Tarnishes AIPAC and the Entire Jewish Community. But the damage done? Only in the eyes of those who obsess over every word uttered by, for, in front of, in the context of, and in the general vicinity or penumbra of Jews. . . .

As for the protests, the promised walkouts, these were shadows, camera-phone theatrics invisible to spectators, much less official feeds. So much for strident statements from movements and magazines alike, puffed-up talk from righteous moralizers taking a Bold Stand against Racism. Of course, the focus will not be on them but on AIPAC—oh my God, did you hear the applause? AIPAC fell for Trump. AIPAC supports Trump. American Jews are racists and fascists because they laughed at his jokes. Of course, it’s never about the moralizers; it’s just about the Jews. All of them. Which is to say, it’s really about the feelings of moralizers, the League of Indignant Jews and their self-image as The Kind and Caring Jews.

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.