Among the factors contributing to the current parliamentary deadlock in the Jewish state is that Bezalel Smotrich, head of the newly formed Religious Zionist Party, refuses to sit in the same government as Mansour Abbas’s Islamist Ra’am party, noting that Ra’am’s 2018 charter calls Zionism “a racist, occupying project.” Daniel Pipes sees a clear, if unlikely, solution: Abbas can reform his party’s platform so as to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and in exchange Smotrich can back down. Moreover, Abbas can do so while remaining true to his principles:

Believe it or not, the Quran is a proto-Zionist document, with verses that endorse the Jewish presence in what it calls the Holy Land (al-ard al-muqaddasa), the territory that roughly makes up the modern state of Israel. For example, Quran 5:20-21 quotes Moses saying to the Jews, “O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God [Allah] has ordained for you to enter.” . . . . Other Quranic verses confirm this theme, as do hadith, [extra-scriptural sacred traditions], and leading Quranic scholars of the premodern era.

Deep research into this issue has been carried out by such scholars as Nissim Dana of Ariel University. . . . In the words of the Muslim scholar Khaleel Mohammed, “It’s in the Muslim consciousness that the land first belonged to the Jews.” Another Muslim thinker, Abdul Hadi Palazzi, comes right out and states that “Allah is a Zionist.”

I am under no illusion that Ra’am would jump at this offer, but it is well worth a try, and for two reasons. First, Mansour Abbas has shown an unprecedented pragmatism and flexibility. . . . Second, even if Ra’am declines the opportunity, such a public challenge by Smotrich to Abbas would finally introduce the Quran’s largely unknown proto-Zionist outlook into wide general discussion in Israel and beyond, a beneficial step for Jews and Muslims alike.

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.