Some of Israel’s most fervent critics seem to be lawyers, going by a recent report by Francesca Block and Eli Lake:

Members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), which represents 2,700 public interest attorneys and advocates in the New York City area, say the union fostered a hostile environment toward Jews after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7. Four lawyers who spoke to The Free Press said the abuse was so severe it almost forced them to quit their jobs. As one lawyer who has been in the union for over 15 years put it: “I hate it there. I think the union is a sinking ship. So I am actively looking for an escape plan.”

The writers managed to obtain some of the abusive messages, which show members of the union who defended Israel being called “fascist,” “deranged,” and “mentally disturbed.” Worse, the environment within the ALAA seems to reflect the environment within many unions across the country.

Alon Levin, a Columbia PhD student in electrical engineering who joined the [graduate student] union only to quit later in protest, said, “My experience is that the union has become a vehicle to pack these rallies for Palestine. Every time you see one of these demonstrations on campus, you see all of these UAW signs. It feels like the union has lost its focus, which is to represent all student workers.”

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.