Blame and responsibility and what to do

 (Originally published in The Times of Israel)

It seems appropriate to be writing this on Tisha B’Av.  We are not at a point equivalent to the destruction of temples, but the problems facing Israel are formidable, and the mood here is depressed. 

Our government is incompetent at best. We are fighting a war nobody except the extremes is certain about.  We are in conflict, and many of us are internally conflicted:  we want a deal to get the hostages out, to stop the killing of our soldiers, and to stop the suffering in Gaza.  But we know that if Hamas is left intact in almost any form, it will be considered a victory for them and eventually we will very likely be subjected to missiles and terrorism again. 

We have some loudmouth politicians who, while not having any sway over policy, make some of the most condemnable, outrageous statements.  We have a Prime Minister whose primary if not exclusive objective is to stay in office and out of jail.  

He has given real power to some irresponsible, extremist ministers, and has acquiesced as they drive us toward destructive policies that undermine our standing in the world and threaten the democratic nature of the country.  

As David Horovitz recently wrote, our government’s actions and inactions have ended up with Israel holding the bag for the current situation in Gaza, whether justified or not. The extremists driving many of these policies would have us encourage the “voluntary” exodus of Gazans and permanently occupy Gaza, an outcome that would repulse the world and that the great majority of Israelis oppose.  

The world seems to have forgotten who started the war and that it would end immediately if Hamas were to release the hostages and lay down its arms. A recent survey shows that half of the American population does not even know that there are still hostages being held.  

The world is dumping on us, sometimes with justification, often with little or none.  Many of our “friends and allies” have turned on us, some reluctantly, many others with apparent glee and enthusiasm.  It is like they were just waiting for an excuse to pile on, regardless of whether the excuse is based in fact or not.

The world, including our “friends and allies,” seemed very quick to accept the fact that there is a famine in Gaza.  After all, many had predicted it almost since October 7.  And they seemed equally quick to blame it on Israel.  Some of Israel’s policies, and some of its loud-mouth politicians, gave them enough reason to lay the blame on us.

The world seems obsessed with Israel and the alleged starvation it is alleged to have deliberately caused.  Motti Friedman recently wrote about the murkiness of the situation in Gaza and the difficulties in determining the truth, none of which presented an obstacle to much of the media and many of the leaders of nations of the world. 

The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health reported 115 deaths from malnutrition since October 7, 2023.

As of July 25, 2025, in Ethiopia, 74,583 people have died from malnutrition-related deaths.

In Bangladesh in 2025 an estimated 95,000-100,000 people have died from malnutrition-related deaths.

In Angola in 2025 an estimated 33,000-35,000 people have died from malnutrition-related deaths.

Where is the outcry?  Where is the condemnation?  Why the disproportionate focus on Gaza and on Israeli responsibility?

Some might say that countering with the deaths from starvation elsewhere is just playing “whataboutism.” Whataboutism has gotten a bad rap.  It is a very useful tool in analyzing priorities, motivations, prejudices, sincerity, even credibility.  It is an invaluable tool when evaluating criticism of Jews and the only-Jewish majority country in the world. 

No one seems interested in the facts laid out by West Point’surban warfare expert John Spencer, who has written about how Israel has taken steps unprecedented by a country at war to mitigate the impacts of the war on the enemy’s population.  

None of this excuses Israel’s mistakes, and none of it excuses Israel from its moral responsibilities regardless of who is at fault for the current situation.  But it does put into question the motivations, morals, and judgments of many taking Israel to task.

Western leaders like French President Macron, Canadian PM Carney, and a good number of others seemed to run over each other in their rush to blame Israel and to recognize a Palestinian nation, regardless of the fact that the would-be state fails to meet most if not all of the traditional requirements for recognition of a nation, and regardless of the fact that taking such an action now is counter to achieving a deal in Gaza and an overall resolution of the Palestinian-Israel issue.   

Western leaders seem motivated by internal politics, fear of violence, animus toward Israel and/or Jews, or just plain stupidity.  Or all the above.

British PM Starmer probably displayed the most stupidity.  He has promised to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, stops building settlements in the West Bank and commits to a two-state solution. His statement places no demands on Hamas or the Palestinians.                                          

Starmer and his supposedly enlightened colleagues are incentivizing Hamas to do nothing other than what they have been doing, and they communicate to Palestinians that violence and playing the victim work. 

It is supremely ironic that the Western nations are taking these steps at virtually the same time that the Arab League condemned the October 7th massacre (albeit 22 months late) and called on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power.  Does anyone think that the Arab nations took that action because Israel looks weak and unwilling to act to dismantle Hamas and to protect its citizens?

William Galston recently convincingly wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Hamas will never surrender and, therefore, Israel should declare victory and make a deal that gets the hostages released.  

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib recently wrote in The Atlantic about how Hamas wants Gazans to starve.  It benefits from famine. To Hamas, Gazans are pawns that can be sacrificed in service of Hamas’ objective to delegitimize and destroy Israel.  

And Haviv Rettig Gur has written that Israel is winning militarily, is doing badly on the humanitarian side, and is failing miserably on the information war.    

Given all of this, and regardless of who is at fault for what, and although Hamas’ survival will undoubtedly lead to more terrorism targeting Israelis and to more suffering for Gazans, and given that IDF reservists are exhausted and on the breaking point, Israel’s best or, more accurately, least bad course, is to declare victory and to make a deal for the return of all the hostages.

The ultimate question:  With the death-cult mentality of Hamas, and with the incentives for intransigence provided by recent European actions, will Hamas even agree to a such a deal?  If not, expect more blame and pressure on. . . . Israel.  

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My wife and I just spent three terrific days in the Golan Heights. You can almost forget about all the problems in the country, at least for a few moments here and there. Everybody there was very appreciative that we had come up and were spending money. Lots of Druze flags, and not just at homes and establishments owned by Druze. One night we ate at a small Druze restaurant on the outskirts of Majdal Shams. The owner told us that he had owned a large restaurant in the center of Majdal Shams. That was destroyed by a Hezbollah missile. His 9 year-old son, the sweetest kid you ever met, came into the restaurant. The dad told us the son had been in a building on the edge of the soccer field when the Hezbollah missile murdered the 12 kids, several of whom were his sons’ friends. (Did not know about that? Or forgot about it? Not surprising. Somehow it is seldom if ever mentioned in the mainstream news.) As we were leaving, I said to the dad that we were praying for peace for Majdal Shams. His response: “Peace for the whole land. But, no, the Muslims never will.” I hope he is wrong, but he does speak the language, and he knows the culture.