Today’s newsletter began with Nehemiah, one of the very last of the biblical prophets. It will end with one of the first: Stuart Halpern recounts how early American thinkers looked to the book of Joshua for inspiration.

Caesar Rodney of Delaware—member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence—saw in Joshua’s journey both the culmination of Moses’s liberation of the Jews from Egypt and a prefiguring of the American story.

In a 1776 letter to his brother, Rodney recalled how “The Israelites—the chosen people of God—met with crosses and disappointments in their journey from the land of bondage to that of liberty, but by a steady perseverance and Divine assistance they at length possessed the Promised Land.” Similarly, the United States, “with a firm reliance on Him” will have its “virtuous endeavors” crowned with success as God would “cause the modern Pharaohs with their hosts to be buried in the sea of their Toryism, as He did the ancient Pharaoh in the Red Sea.”

Considering the current state of Israel-Arab relations, Ghaith al-Omari writes

First and foremost, no ceasefire will be possible without the release of Israeli hostages and commitments to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The final say on these matters rests with Hamas commanders on the ground in Gaza, who have been largely impervious to foreign pressure so far. At minimum, however, the United States should insist that Qatari and Egyptian mediators push Hamas’s external leadership to accept these conditions publicly, which could increase pressure on the group’s Gaza leadership.

Washington should also demand a clear, public position from key Arab states regarding disarmament. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed this position in a June letter to Saudi Arabia and France, giving Arab states Palestinian cover for endorsing it themselves.

Some Arab states have already indicated a willingness to play a significant role, but they will have little incentive to commit resources and personnel to Gaza unless Israel (1) provides guarantees that it will not occupy the Strip indefinitely, and (2) removes its veto on a PA role in Gaza’s future, even if only symbolic at first. Arab officials are also seeking assurances that any role they play in Gaza will be in the context of a wider effort to reach a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Washington must remain mindful that current conditions between Israel and the Palestinians are not remotely conducive to . . . implementing a two-state solution.