Over the weekend, the Jewish state recorded its 100th death from COVID-19. Alarming as this figure may be, David Horovitz argues that comparison with countries that were slower and more cautious in implementing social-distancing measures suggests that Jerusalem’s swift and stringent approach has accomplished much:

Sweden decided not to follow conventional wisdom and did not impose a radical lockdown to thwart the spread of the coronavirus. With a population about the same size as Israel’s at 10 million, it has recorded almost 900 deaths at the time of writing—nine times as many as Israel. The UK, which hemmed and hawed before going into lockdown, has a population about seven times that of Israel, and had recorded almost 10,000 deaths at time of writing—almost 100 times as many as Israel.

These and numerous other comparisons underline how much worse things could have been by now in Israel had the government not moved quickly—first to discourage nonessential overseas travel and then to seal off Israel [almost completely], and to impose fairly stringent restrictions on movement—in the battle against the contagion.

Yet Horovitz warns against complacency, noting the failure to screen or quarantine new arrivals to the country, the challenges of reopening the economy, and the disturbingly high rates of infection in Orthodox and Arab communities, as well as in old-age homes. And much more remains to be done:

We [in Israel] need transparent criteria for lockdowns, so that nobody need feel that this or that sector is being discriminated against. We need to reach the testing levels our leaders rightly deemed necessary to identify new areas of concern swiftly, and to assess efficiently where restrictions can be eased. We need action, rather than endless talk, when it comes to evacuating carriers, ensuring the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sectors are properly equipped, and tackling the outbreaks in elder-care facilities.

This virus is going to be blighting our lives for a long time yet. Israel, it would seem, is far from out of the woods. And not because we’re an ill-disciplined citizenry.

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.