In a series of panel discussions and debates while on a recent tour of Jewish communities in North America, Daniel Gordis encountered quite a few who claimed to be “pro-Israel” and “profoundly committed to Israel’s security” but who immediately went on to voice a list of complaints about the Jewish state, mostly focused on Benjamin Netanyahu, settlements, and the status of the West Bank. Many, including writers and some of American Jewry’s “most significant thought leaders in their 30s and 40s,” pointed out that their positions on these issues are shared by a significant portion of Israelis. Suspecting an element of insincerity in their protestations of love, Gordis proposes a litmus test that can be applied to critics of the Jewish state:

Last week, the White House announced its plan to resume funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)—which had ceased in 2018—to the tune of $150 million per year. UNRWA, unlike the UN organization that cares for refugees from every other conflict the world over, does not seek to resettle its charges or to integrate them into the countries where they live, but instead keeps them and their descendants refugees in perpetuity. While the administration justified its decision as “a means to advance a negotiated two-state solution,” Einat Wilf argues that it will do nothing of the sort: