In conversation with Mark Gerson, William Kristol—after reminiscing about the golden age of New York City sports—discusses Deuteronomy 34:10, the antepenultimate verse of the Torah: “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” Among much else, Kristol finds therein wisdom about the limits of human perfectibility: even Moses, this incomparably great man, died disappointed, unable due to his own failings to enter the promised land. The two also discuss as Moses’ singular act the smashing of the tablets, traditionally commemorated today, on the fast of the seventeenth of the month Tammuz. (Audio, 29 minutes.)

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.