In 1984, Jesse Jackson made some blatant anti-Semitic remarks in conversation with a journalist, who then published them. Jackson, faced with criticism, first denied the remarks and then claimed that the Jews were out to get him. But later on he had numerous conversations with the then-head of the Antidefamation League Abe Foxman, and eventually made a public apology—steeped in religious language. Ever since he has enjoyed good relations with the Jewish community.

In conversation with Eli Lake, Foxman—drawing on his long career fighting anti-Semitism—discusses the value of apologies and of accepting them. The alternative, the two note, is seen in today’s “cancel culture,” which incentivizes not contrition but further outrageous behavior. (Audio, 33 minutes.)

In September, Cypriot police narrowly foiled a plot by an Iranian agent to murder five Jewish businessman. This was but one of roughly a dozen similar operations that Tehran has conducted in Europe since 2015—on both Israeli or Jewish and American targets—which have left three dead. Matthew Karnitschnig traces the use of assassination as a strategic tool to the very beginning of the Islamic Republic, and explains its appeal:

In the West, assassination remains a last resort (think Osama bin Laden); in authoritarian states, it’s the first (who can forget the 2017 assassination by nerve agent of Kim Jong-nam, the playboy half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, upon his arrival in Kuala Lumpur?). For rogue states, even if the murder plots are thwarted, the regimes still win by instilling fear in their enemies’ hearts and minds. That helps explain the recent frequency. Over the course of a few months last year, Iran undertook a flurry of attacks from Latin America to Africa.

Whether such operations succeed or not, the countries behind them can be sure of one thing: they won’t be made to pay for trying. Over the years, the Russian and Iranian regimes have eliminated countless dissidents, traitors, and assorted other enemies (real and perceived) on the streets of Paris, Berlin, and even Washington, often in broad daylight. Others have been quietly abducted and sent home, where they faced sham trials and were then hanged for treason.

While there’s no shortage of criticism in the West in the wake of these crimes, there are rarely real consequences. That’s especially true in Europe, where leaders have looked the other way in the face of a variety of abuses in the hopes of reviving a deal to rein in Tehran’s nuclear-weapons program and renewing business ties.