In conversation with Eli Lake, Ruth R. Wisse considers the long history of Ukrainian Jewry—including the many episodes of violent persecution Jews suffered at Ukrainian hands from the 17th century until the 20th—and the way this history is portrayed in such great works of Yiddish literature as Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman. The two then go on to explore the moral significance of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, what it means for the Jews, the significance of the fact that this country is now being led in a fight for its freedom by a Jewish former comedian, and, finally, what risks Israel should and should not take to aid it in this fight. (Audio, 68 minutes.)

If there is to be peace, Palestinians will have to unlearn the hatred of Israel they have imbibed during nearly two decades of Hamas rule. This will be a difficult task, but Cole Aronson argues, drawing on the experiences of World War II, that Israel has already gotten off to a strong start:

The population’s compliance can . . . be won by a new regime that satisfies its immediate material needs, even if that new regime is sponsored by a government until recently at war with the population’s former regime. Axis civilians were made needy through bombing. Peaceful compliance with the Allies became a good alternative to supporting violent resistance to the Allies.

Israel’s current campaign makes a moderate Gaza more likely, not less. Destroying Hamas not only deprives Islamists of the ability to rule—it proves the futility of armed resistance to Israel, a condition for peace. The destruction of buildings not only deprives Hamas of its hideouts. It also gives ordinary Palestinians strong reasons to shun groups planning to replicate Hamas’s behavior.