In southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Hizballah fighters ambushed a group of Israeli soldiers, killing two and wounding two others. Among the dead was Ze’ev Erlich, who—although he was wearing a helmet, uniform, and combat gear—was not a soldier but a historian. A senior commander had invited the seventy-one-year-old to look at a possible site of the grave of the New Testament apostle Simon the Zealot. Matti Friedman, who writes that Erlich “knew more about Israeli history than nearly anyone I’ve ever met,” interviewed him for a 2013 article about a remarkable collection of wooden beams:

Despite their unprepossessing appearance, the beams are unique and important to scholars because of their place of origin—al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount—and their age: some were hewed from trees felled nearly 3,000 years ago.

The first iteration of al-Aqsa was built in the late 600s CE on the Temple Mount. . . . When the Muslim builders constructed the roof and supports they re-used timber that had been used in older structures nearby, common practice in the ancient world. Those structures, scholars say, include not only materials dating to the time of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago—but to the time of the first, as many as eight centuries before.

In 1984, Erlich became aware of the existence of these beams, and it was thanks to his efforts that they have been preserved.

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.