Israel’s government-sponsored International Bible Quiz for Youth takes place every year on Independence Day. For some time the contest’s winners have uniformly come out of the religious Zionist school system, but this year’s winner is a student at a secular school. To Gabi Avital the youngster’s victory marks the reversal of a trend in Israel during which Bible study disappeared from the mainstream, becoming the province instead of Orthodox Jews and (mainly) secular scholars:

How was the Tanakh pushed into the corner of the kippah-wearers, who are in fact the minority [in Israel]? Over the years, under the guise of science, the Bible underwent “critical readings” [and] was compared with the Code of Hammurabi and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It was broken up into shreds of documents, and its soul was drugged with the “enlightened” scientific spirit. [Professors] wrote articles, attended conferences—and yet the universities’ Bible departments grew increasingly empty.

But, lo and behold, it seems that [outside the universities] Bible study is blossoming like flowers in springtime. The young people of Israel are learning verses and passages by heart, and each Saturday people read and study the weekly Torah portion. . . .

The Tanakh is the basic element of the soul of the Jewish people. Combined, the Tanakh and the Talmud, the Mishnah, and the midrashim are a [canon] any nation would be proud to claim. . . . The moment when a secular student was lifted up on someone’s shoulders [to celebrate his victory in the Bible quiz] heralded the return of the Bible to the general public. It belongs to everyone. There can be no monopoly on the wisdom of the Tanakh or its study, provided the basic condition is maintained: the Tanakh is the essence of the Jewish spirit here in the land of Israel.

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.