How European Governments and Churches Fund the Libeling of Israel

Much of the misinformation about Israel that finds its way into the mainstream press originates with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) devoted to defaming the Jewish state. These NGOs, generally Israeli or Palestinian, receive funding from a variety of European organizations, which in turn receive public funds from their governments. Gerald Steinberg explains:

During its first decade, Zochrot was a fringe NGO with little impact. The rapid rise in the visibility of its activities . . . as well as mainstream media coverage were mainly due to a significant increase in funding, primarily originating from European governments. . . . [T]he funding processes are generally not subject to the norms of accountability and transparency and constitute a significant “democratic deficit.”

By funding [these] organizations . . . European governments have become enablers of the NGOs’ radical agenda. These activities and overall agendas do not advance the stated objectives of democracy and human rights and are often incompatible with declared European foreign-policy objectives.

Read more at Middle East Quarterly

More about: Christianity in Europe, Europe and Israel, Jewish-Christian relations, Mainstream Media, NGO

What a Strategic Victory in Gaza Can and Can’t Achieve

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant says that he told the former that only “a decisive victory will bring this war to an end.” Shay Shabtai tries to outline what exactly this would entail, arguing that the IDF can and must attain a “strategic” victory, as opposed to merely a tactical or operational one. Yet even after a such a victory Israelis can’t expect to start beating their rifles into plowshares:

Strategic victory is the removal of the enemy’s ability to pose a military threat in the operational arena for many years to come. . . . This means the Israeli military will continue to fight guerrilla and terrorist operatives in the Strip alongside extensive activity by a local civilian government with an effective police force and international and regional economic and civil backing. This should lead in the coming years to the stabilization of the Gaza Strip without Hamas control over it.

In such a scenario, it will be possible to ensure relative quiet for a decade or more. However, it will not be possible to ensure quiet beyond that, since the absence of a fundamental change in the situation on the ground is likely to lead to a long-term erosion of security quiet and the re-creation of challenges to Israel. This is what happened in the West Bank after a decade of relative quiet, and in relatively stable Iraq after the withdrawal of the United States at the end of 2011.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, IDF