Is West Bank settler violence the hill that Israel’s friends want to die on?
asserted
friends → want → that
I ask as a lifelong admirer of the Jewish state.
asserted
I → ask → state
I marvel at the achievement of maintaining an open society in a lawless region.
asserted
I → marvel → region
I remember the warm glow I felt, two decades ago, when the IDF general who had laid out the West Bank barrier, the defensive wall that runs along the green line, showed me where the Supreme Court had made him alter its course, giving up some strategic ground so as not to violate the property rights of a Palestinian farmer.
asserted
him → remember → farmer
In no other state in the region, I reflected, did soldiers obey civilian judges.
asserted
soldiers → reflect → judges
In 2010, when I was running the alliance of European conservative parties, I made sure that Likud could join as a full partner.
uncertain
Likud → run → partner
Anti-Zionist sentiment is rising among the groups that used to be most supportive: Americans, conservatives, even diaspora Jews.
asserted
that → rise → groups
People of my sort of age (born 1971) grew up thinking of Israel as a dependable Cold War ally.
asserted
People → bear → ally
The way young people talk of the state today shocks us.
asserted
people → talk → us
You can try to blame it on propaganda and delegitimization — or you can believe the polls, which show that the slide has come overwhelmingly since 2023.
asserted
slide → try → 2023
One of the factors behind that slide, I am sorry to say, is the intimidating fervor of those who refuse to countenance any criticism, defending every case of military misconduct, every instance of settler aggression.
asserted
who → say → aggression
Look at the reaction when Britain, along with numerous other Western countries, announced targeted measures against five settlers involved in violence, together with sanctions against goods from settlements deemed illegal.
asserted
Britain → look → settlements
Israel closed the British consulate in East Jerusalem.
asserted
Israel → close → Jerusalem
Ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet called for Argentina to take the Falkland Islands.
asserted
Argentina → call → Islands
Columnists and parliamentarians called the British Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, an anti-Semite.
asserted
Columnists → call → Secretary
God knows I am no fan of Miliband.
asserted
I → know → Miliband
Still, to accuse him of “Jew hate,” as the ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, did, seems overblown when Miliband is himself Jewish.
asserted
Miliband → accuse → Israel
I happen to think that Miliband’s announcement was a mistake in its own terms.
asserted
announcement → happen → terms
I suspect the British Foreign Secretary wants to weaken the Netanyahu coalition, but his actions have strengthened it.
asserted
actions → suspect → it
Sanctions are almost always bad policy, hurting the wrong people and strengthening the regime of which you disapprove.
asserted
you → hurt → which
Nonetheless, to characterize Miliband’s speech as anti-Semitic is beyond absurd.
asserted
characterize → characterize → speech
Yes, he condemned some of the settlers, but he also condemned anti-Semitism, opposed the BDS movement, and reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to the Jewish homeland.
asserted
he → condemn → homeland
If none of that counts, if support for the settlements is now the sole test of friendship, then Israel has almost no friends.
asserted
Israel → count → friends
The attitudes we form when we are young are often hard to shake.
asserted
we → form → ?
People of my generation were shaped by the Cold War, which left us suspicious of Russia.
asserted
which → shape → Russia
My mother, who was a schoolgirl during World War Two, had a similar prejudice against Germany.
asserted
who → have → Germany
Listen, now, to how young people talk of Israel.
asserted
people → listen → Israel
Why assume they will alter their views as they grow up?
asserted
they → assume → views
Wars flick switches in our brains.
asserted
Wars → flick → brains
What we might have taken as friendly criticism in peacetime seems suddenly like a betrayal.
uncertain
taken → take → betrayal
After the abominations of Oct. 7, abominations that some extremists actually celebrated, Israelis were bound to become more intolerant of criticism.
asserted
Israelis → celebrate → criticism
We should all be able to understand that.
asserted
We → understand → that
It is extraordinary to see how that sympathy has been lost.
asserted
sympathy → see → ?
In the days after 7 October, every Israeli I spoke to, most of them Likudniks, expected Netanyahu to take the rap and resign.
asserted
Netanyahu → speak → rap
Three years on, he has kept his job, but at a terrible cost to his country’s standing and, in consequence, to its long-term security.
asserted
he → keep → security
I want Israel to flourish.
asserted
Israel → want → ?
In my more optimistic moments, I share the vision of the early British Zionists, men like Winston Churchill, who believed that a prosperous Jewish state, trading with its Arab neighbors, would enrich the entire region.
asserted
state → share → region
To realize that vision, Israel needs support.
asserted
Israel → realize → support
If it rejects support that it regards as qualified or conditional, if it insists on 100% backing even for people who have been unlawfully driving civilians from their homes, then it will lose almost all its backers.
asserted
it → reject → backers
And that, after the miracles that it has wrought over the past eight decades, would be a tragedy.
asserted
it → work → decades
The Aporia
