A few weeks ago, reports emerged that software sold to various governments by the Israeli firm NSO—designed to be used to track terrorists and criminals—was being used by some unscrupulous regimes to spy on journalists, dissidents, and other governments. The news has led to investigations in Israel and some diplomatic spats. Particularly incensed is France, which claims that Morocco used the technology to eavesdrop on its top politicians. Eyal Zisser seeks to bring some perspective:

[T]he concern in France, and in Washington incidentally, is tainted with quite a bit of hypocrisy. Espionage is a severe violation of personal privacy, but—and this is a big but—it doesn’t kill. On the other hand, weapons and other related systems certainly do kill, and these are sold by the French, and by the Americans, too, across the globe.

France, for example, is the third-largest weapons exporter in the world, after the United States and Russia. Over the past two years, the scope of its weapons exports has amounted to some two billion dollars. . . . Such activity isn’t considered a human-rights violation and doesn’t entail spying on journalists and civilians; it merely involves weapons that are used to kill nameless, faceless human beings and is, therefore, somehow, far less troubling. We all recall France’s involvement in the construction of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor some four decades ago. France provided the technology for the reactor and even promised to give the Iraqis the enriched uranium necessary to make it operational—all in exchange for Iraqi oil.

The reason for the anger at Israel is hard to gauge. Everyone sells weapons, everyone spies on everyone else. Perhaps they are mad because Israel has been able to join the “big boys’ club,” becoming a player in the fields of weapons and technology. Or maybe this is also an attempt to turn Israel into a punching bag for progressive forces around the world.

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.