According to recent surveys, American evangelicals under thirty are far less likely than their elders to have positive attitudes toward the Jewish state. In part, writes Peter Wehner, the trend is due to changing attitudes toward eschatology, which lead younger believers to invest less importance in the role the Jews’ return to their historic homeland plays in the coming of the millennium. A more important factor, however, is that younger evangelicals are absorbing from the media and from activists the impression that Israel is cruel, oppressive, and brutal:

Among the most urgent tasks is to show why by their own standards—human rights, social justice, the advancement of human flourishing, a government that is accountable and based on the rule of law—Israel warrants their support.

Right now the critics of Israel are offering a narrative and imagery that are more compelling than are the supporters of Israel, at least when it comes to the younger generation of Christians. But it doesn’t have to be that way: no people has a more gripping and enthralling story to tell than the Jewish people, and that story needs to be retold in ways that capture the imagination of younger Christians.

Young evangelicals whose understanding of Israel is dominated by a narrative of Israeli misdeeds ought to be told the story of Palestinian misconduct, ethical transgressions, authoritarian rule, and horrifying anti-Semitism—and told it in a way that increases the chances they will hear it. Many of them should be stirred to action. For those who aren’t, then perhaps something other than solidarity with the Palestinian people is at play.

Engaging in good-faith dialogue also means not shying away from speaking truths that that may be unsettling, and in this case, it means [stating] that the Palestinian leadership, which has betrayed the Palestinian people at almost every turn, has made anti-Semitism a central, organizing principle of Palestine life—more central, even, than Palestinian statehood.

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.