How do you know whether or not you are on the right side of history?
Well, if a terror group publicly thanks and praises you, that should be your first indicator that something is deeply wrong.
On Monday, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada issued a joint statement criticizing Israel's management of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, and Canada's Mark Carney called on Israel to immediately cease military operations and facilitate greater humanitarian aid, threatening "further concrete actions" if Israel fails to comply.
The statement labelled Israel's current aid efforts as "wholly inadequate" and demanded greater cooperation with the United Nations. Strangely, it made no mention of the fact that numerous UN employees were caught participating in the October 7 attacks and were also found to be active members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, some even drawing salaries from these terror organizations. Expecting Israelis to work with the agency that has actively enabled Hamas's terror operations is not just unrealistic, it's an insult to the victims of October 7 and a blatant disregard for Israel's right to defend itself against those who seek its destruction.
In response, Hamas issued a press release thanking France, the UK, and Canada.
What shocked me most was that, beyond generic calls to "release the hostages," these three countries failed to hold Hamas accountable for what it did to their own citizens. On October 7, 2023, Hamas infiltrated Israel and murdered 1,200 people, among them, French, Canadian, and British nationals.
Hamas killed eight Canadians that day and is still holding the body of one of them hostage. Judi Weinstein Haggai, who grew up in Toronto, was murdered alongside her husband at Kibbutz Nir Oz. Hamas also slaughtered 42 French citizens and kidnapped eight others. One of them, Ofer Kalderon, was held for 484 days. Another, Ohad Yahalomi, was returned after 510 days, in a body bag. How can Macron host a ceremony in Paris honoring the victims of Hamas, then turn around and prop up the very group responsible for their deaths?
And then there are the British victims: Hamas murdered 18 Brits in the October 7 attack, including Lianne Sharabi and her daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Hamas later paraded a visibly emaciated Eli Sharabi (Lianne's husband and the girls' father) through the streets of Gaza, forcing him to speak to a jeering crowd about reuniting with his family, knowing full well they had already been killed. Hamas also took two British nationals hostage: Emily Damari, who was held for 471 days and returned with missing fingers, and Nadav Popplewell, who died in captivity.
Canada, France, and the UK have not only betrayed their ally Israel, but they have also betrayed their own citizens.
Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Innocent civilians deserve food, medical care, and dignity, and they should not be held responsible for the crimes of Hamas, even though Palestinian civilians also participated in the October 7 atrocities: in the kidnappings, in the murders, in the desecration of bodies.
To release a statement like this, void of context, void of accountability, and void of any plan to prevent Hamas from hijacking and profiting from aid, is not diplomacy. It's a tone-deaf performance. Israel's Channel 12 reported that at one point, Hamas had made up to half a billion dollars by stealing and reselling humanitarian aid. If your only contribution to this conversation is "let's send more aid," while ignoring how that aid is routinely looted and redirected to support terrorism, you are not helping civilians; you are funding their oppressors.
The letter concluded by calling for "an end to Hamas's control of Gaza" and advocating for renewed efforts toward a two-state solution. Nothing screams Western naiveté more than the idea that Hamas will willingly give up power and release hostages if only Israel "facilitates" more aid. This is a terror organization that has said repeatedly it intends to carry out more massacres like October 7. Even if its leaders are expelled from Gaza, figures like Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh have proven they can continue to lead and fund Hamas from abroad.
While noble in theory, the push for a two-state solution comes across as utterly disconnected from the current reality. In the long run, I believe that a two-state framework is the only viable path to lasting peace. But to demand that Israel pursue such a path now, after one of the worst massacres in modern Jewish history, while hostages are still being held in underground tunnels, is not just unrealistic. It reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the region, its people, and the jihadist forces at play.
Finally, Israeli leaders, on both the right and the left, must stay silent when they have nothing constructive to say. This is not the time for political point-scoring or inflammatory soundbites that serve no purpose but to fuel our enemies' propaganda. Any leader who even hints at collective punishment, or parrots grotesque blood libels like the claim that Israel "kills babies as a hobby," is not just misguided; they are aiding the dehumanization of the Israeli people and giving legitimacy to antisemitic lies. Such individuals are morally bankrupt and unfit to lead a nation at war.
The leaders of Canada, France, and the UK must stop posturing and start offering real solutions grounded in the facts on the ground. Because when a terror organization applauds your stance, that is not a badge of honor, it's an alarm bell.
When Hamas publicly thanks you, it's not because you are on the side of peace. It's because you've made yourself useful to their propaganda. And if you are being thanked by the very group that murdered your citizens, desecrated their bodies, and held others in unspeakable conditions for over a year, then you have not just failed as a leader.
You have abandoned your most basic moral duty.
