With passions in Israel running high over the arrest of soldiers accused of abusing imprisoned terrorists, and over the riots that ensued, Nadav Shragai provides an admirably measured analysis:

We would all rejoice to see the October 7 terrorists hanging from power poles in the Gaza Strip. However, having captured them, we are obligated to bring them to trial. That said, there were more respectful ways to summon soldiers for questioning. . . . This is not how you treat soldiers entrusted with guarding the worst of our murderers during wartime.

If the allegations of sexual abuse prove to be true, they cannot be ignored. Not out of concern for the suffering of any particular terrorist, but because after we’ve captured and imprisoned these inhuman creatures instead of eliminating them on the battlefield, we must try them according to Israeli law. We must ensure their conviction and, in the process, present their crimes and atrocities to the world, just as was done with the Nazis at Nuremberg, or with [Adolf] Eichmann in Jerusalem in the 1960s.

The state of Israel, and only the state of Israel, can eliminate terrorists and mass murderers without trial, during and between wars.

With the IDF engaged in ground maneuvers in both northern and southern Gaza, and a plan about to go into effect next week that would separate more than 100,000 civilians from Hamas’s control, an end to the war may at last be in sight. Yet there seems to be no agreement within Israel, or without, about what should become of the territory. Efraim Inbar assesses the various proposals, from Donald Trump’s plan to remove the population entirely, to the Israeli far-right’s desire to settle the Strip with Jews, to the internationally supported proposal to place Gaza under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA)—and exposes the fatal flaws of each. He therefore tries to reframe the problem:

[M]any Arab states have failed to establish a monopoly on the use of force within their borders. Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan all suffer from civil wars or armed militias that do not obey the central government.

Perhaps Israel needs to get used to the idea that in the absence of an entity willing to take Gaza under its wing, chaos will prevail there. This is less terrible than people may think. Chaos would allow Israel to establish buffer zones along the Gaza border without interference. Any entity controlling Gaza would oppose such measures and would resist necessary Israeli measures to reduce terrorism. Chaos may also encourage emigration.

Israel is doomed to live with bad neighbors for the foreseeable future. There is no way to ensure zero terrorism. Israel should avoid adopting a policy of containment and should constantly “mow the grass” to minimize the chances of a major threat emerging across the border. Periodic conflicts may be necessary. If the Jews want a state in their homeland, they need to internalize that Israel will have to live by the sword for many more years.