In the past few days news stories have emerged that the U.S. plans to sell the F-35 fighter jet—its most advanced military aircraft—to the United Arab Emirates and that Benjamin Netanyahu has objected to the sale. Less reliable reports have suggested that the White House had promised the jets to the UAE as an inducement to make peace with Israel, or that the deal between Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem is now somehow in jeopardy. In Israel, some pundits are even claiming that the sale undermines the Jewish state’s “qualitative military edge” over its Middle Eastern neighbors, which Washington has promised to help it maintain. Ariel Kahana argues that this supposed controversy, in fact, amounts to little:

[American] presidents and legislators have always helped sell advanced weaponry to the world, including Arab countries. Israel has objected, to no avail. In 1980, for example, the U.S. sold Egypt the F-16 fighter jet, the most advanced in the world at the time. Egypt was our biggest enemy. Only seven years earlier, in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, it had done serious damage to our air force. Israel had signed a peace treaty with Egypt only a year before the sale, and it hadn’t even been implemented [fully]. Still, it was clear to leaders in Israel and Washington that the risk—which was much greater than the case of the UAE—was worth it. So what is all the current fuss about?

The bottom line is that the U.S. hasn’t yet decided whether to sell the advanced aircraft to the UAE. . . . Second, even if the UAE eventually gets the sought-after stealth fighter, it won’t set any precedent. Worse enemies of Israel, who lie closer to our borders, have received more advanced aircraft, and no one here was affected. Therefore, we should keep things in proportion this time as well.

Third, the evidence dispels any base for claims about “stealth fighters in exchange for peace.” . . . There is no deal for the U.S. to sell the Emiratis the F-35. [And] if one is reached, it will have nothing to do with Israel, and in any case, it would present little risk in comparison to the deals of the past. So we can turn off the alarm.

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.