For several years, Students for Justice in Palestine and other anti-Israel groups have been disseminating the claim that the Jewish state trains U.S. police officers to use brutal and lethal techniques, especially on black men—an accusation as absurd as it is malicious. In the wake of the death of George Floyd, this canard has taken on new life, leading the English actress Maxine Peake to claim that the police officer who murdered Floyd did so using a technique introduce by Israel. Jonathan Tobin comments on the uproar Peake inadvertently started in her own country, and an American parallel:

The Labor parliamentarian Rebecca Long-Bailey . . . got into hot water this week when she retweeted an article about Maxine Peake [containing] the lie about Israel and Floyd’s death with the comment, “Maxine Peake is an absolute diamond.” Labor’s former leader, [the anti-Semitic radical Jeremy Corbyn], might have joined her in that sentiment. But Corbyn’ssuccessor, Keith Starmer, . . . fired Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary, a post that would have ensured her membership in Britain’s cabinet if Labor were to win the next election.

But while Labor was attempting to change course, the most important newspaper in the United States has been heading in a different direction. Charlotte Greensit was hired as part of a changing of the guard at the Times after a staff revolt. . . . Greensit has personally tweeted defenses of the anti-Semitic statements by Representative Ilhan Omar, and argued that Hamas was justified in seeking to invade Israel. But in 2017, she also specifically tweeted that “Israeli security forces are training American cops despite history of rights abuses,” while promoting a libel of Israel.

It says something that in an institution that had become as thoroughly infiltrated by anti-Semitism as Labor, there’s now a new commitment to ridding the party of such hate. At the Times, however, left-wing anti-Semitism isn’t merely tolerated; it’s the sort of thing that can help you to rise to the top.

Britain’s opposition party may be serious about wanting to change course after becoming a home to Jew-hatred under its former leader. But . . . the Times, which has a lamentable history when it comes to Jewish issues, is heading down a path in which it is being bullied into taking radical positions that are antithetical to liberal values.

Last month an Irish member of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed by Hizballah guerrillas who opened fire on his vehicle. To David Schenker, it is likely the peacekeeper was “assassinated” to send “a clear message of Hizballah’s growing hostility toward UNIFIL.” The peacekeeping force has had a presence in south Lebanon since 1978, serving first to maintain calm between Israel and the PLO, and later between Israel and Hizballah. But, Schenker explains, it seems to be accomplishing little in that regard:

In its biannual reports to the Security Council, UNIFIL openly concedes its failure to interdict weapons destined for Hizballah. While the contingent acknowledges allegations of “arms transfers to non-state actors” in Lebanon, i.e., Hizballah, UNIFIL says it’s “not in a position to substantiate” them. Given how ubiquitous UN peacekeepers are in the Hizballah heartland, this perennial failure to observe—let alone appropriate—even a single weapons delivery is a fair measure of the utter failure of UNIFIL’s mission. Regardless, Washington continues to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into this failed enterprise, and its local partner, the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Since 2006, UNIFIL patrols have periodically been subjected to Hizballah roadside bombs in what quickly proved to be a successful effort to discourage the organization proactively from executing its charge. In recent years, though, UN peacekeepers have increasingly been targeted by the terror organization that runs Lebanon, and which tightly controls the region that UNIFIL was set up to secure. The latest UN reports tell a harrowing story of a spike in the pattern of harassment and assaults on the force. . . .

Four decades on, UNIFIL’s mission has clearly become untenable. Not only is the organization ineffective, its deployment serves as a key driver of the economy in south Lebanon, employing and sustaining Hizballah’s supporters and constituents. At $500 million a year—$125 million of which is paid by Washington—the deployment is also expensive. Already, the force is in harm’s way, and during the inevitable next war between Israel and Hizballah, this 10,000-strong contingent will provide the militia with an impressive human shield.