On May 16, Tomer Hemed, an Israeli member of Wellington’s professional soccer team, scored an impressive two goals in a single match, with the second securing a tie for his teammates. In an apparent expression of gratitude to God, he put on a kippah, covered his eyes, and recited the opening of the sh’ma. James Hirsh describes the controversy that followed:

Stuff, the most popular website in New Zealand, was apparently unfamiliar with the sh’ma (which, it should be noted, predates the modern state of Israel by more than 3,000 years). Its report referred to the post-goal prayer as a “show of support for his home country during a time of violent conflict between Israel and Palestine.”

Wearing a flag and saying a prayer are among the most common celebrations for athletes in any sport and in any country. After winning the 2019 World Series, the Washington Nationals star Juan Soto held aloft a Dominican flag. . . . The Egyptian [soccer player] Mo Salah has routinely dropped to his knees to perform the sujood, the prostration towards Mecca that is an integral part of Muslim devotion.

For Tomer Hemed, however, the problem is not just what his celebrations were, but the fact that he is an Israeli Jew performing them right now. At the New Zealand Herald, Michael Burgess called Hemed’s actions “at best naïve” and “hard to defend.” . . .  According to Burgess, Hemed “needs to be respectful towards Australia and New Zealand, where the majority of people probably have a vastly different view to his own about the current conflict.”

This is a much more dangerous idea than the oft-recited command that athletes “stick to sports.” It is the idea that a Jew must keep his identity hidden unless he assimilates his views and values into the prevailing cultural norms. It is the idea that an Israeli cannot be proud of his country without the threat of Nazi comparisons. It is the anti-Semitic tenet of holding Jews to a higher and unreasonable standard, and it should no longer have any place in sports.

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.