Most (if not all) countries go to war to win; Israel, however, is different. First, neither Israel nor the PLO conceives of the conflict as a war, since they have mutual ongoing political, security, and economic interests; terrorism, therefore, is seen as part of an ongoing relationship. Until Oct 7, Israeli leaders assumed that this was also true for Hamas.

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This leads to the second reason: Israel was not fighting to destroy terrorism, but to prevent attacks, neutralize or arrest terrorists, and then, temporarily, return to a "status quo." That's why warnings about what Hamas was doing were ignored by Israel's political, military, and security leaders; they duped themselves.

Hope-doped, drugged by self-assurance, and seeking to appease the Obama/Biden administrations, the EU, the UN, and the international community, they accepted "the two-state solution" (2SS). They failed to understand that the conflict is not over territory, but is – as Hamas proclaims – a religious war to eliminate Israel. That explains why Palestinian leaders consistently reject offers of statehood in return for recognizing Israel's right to exist, and why they continue to launch terrorist attacks against Jews. They are engaged in a "holy war" against Jews and Zionists as "invaders" and "occupiers of Palestine" – all of it. That is a call for genocide.

Attempts to reduce, or "manage the conflict" by making concessions, therefore, failed because of an unwillingness to understand what the PLO, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations want. Despite ongoing terrorism during the 1990s, Israeli, European, and American leaders promoted a "peace process," the Oslo Accords. As Yasser Arafat admitted, it was only a step towards his goal of destroying Israel.

Although the Abraham Accords were a sign of hope, they had no effect in the terrorist war against Israel.  Meanwhile, Iran, Qatar, Turkey, and other Muslim countries poured billions into Hamas' war efforts. Distracted, Israeli leaders ignored what was going on in Gaza. Self-assured, they refused to accept reality

This created a double-bind. On one hand, Israel's security forces are trying to contain terrorism; on the other hand, Israel is committed to fulfilling obsolete agreements and sustaining the PA/PLO and until recently, Hamas. Winning the war against terrorism, therefore, undermines the 2SS.

Although catching and/or killing terrorists is important, it has little effect in the war on terrorism. For every terrorist that is eliminated or imprisoned, there are many who are ready and willing to replace him/her as part of their "holy war" against Israel. Refusing to accept reality, many believe that Arabs, Muslims, and especially Palestinians will give up and make peace, or at least that Israel can "manage the conflict," offering economic incentives while waiting for the next attacks.

The problem is that many Israeli leaders not only believe that Israel cannot win its war against terrorism, but that Israel should not win – that Palestinians deserve a state, regardless of who will be in charge – because this would relieve Israel of moral and legal dilemmas, e.g. "the occupation." And, morality, ethical monotheism, is the essence of Judaism and of the State of Israel.

While acknowledging liberal democratic values, however, this clashes with another value: Israel's survival, the safety of Jews and their protection, and the right of the Jewish People to their homeland in Eretz Yisrael. It is, therefore, a question of priorities.

There are even more difficult questions: What would be the borders of such a state? What is its purpose? What are its values, if any? Will it be stable, or become a battleground for competing terrorist groups? Whom does it serve? How does it serve Arabs who live in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as Arab-Israeli citizens who identify as Palestinians?

And, what will be the fate of Jews who now live in the areas that would be given to a Palestinian state? Will Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exist? Will terrorism and the war against Jews end?  These too are moral questions.

Those who designed, supported, and implemented the Oslo Accords justified taking risks that were apparent to everyone because of moral-legal considerations. Ignoring the dangers, they failed, and continue to fail to understand that these arguments are not absolute, but are conditional and relative. As long as Palestinians engage in terrorism and advocate murder and genocide, their demands for a state are immoral and irrelevant, and those who ignore this are complicit.

Israel's survival is the only moral, legal, and realistic response to terrorism; it is the reason for its existence and is the basis for its declaration of sovereignty over all areas which are of vital national interest.

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North American Jewish leaders who consider themselves Zionists should not only support the results of the Nov. 1 Israeli election, but applaud them.

We not only have a government that represents a majority of the citizens of Israel – unlike the previous government – but one that is dedicated to a Zionist vision that supports the rights of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan.

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One of the most important things this election demonstrated is that most Jews in Israel support the settlements. The Labor Party, which attempted to implement the two-state solution by creating a terrorist-run quasi-state, was not only defeated, but trounced. Despite widespread condemnation of Religious Zionist Party leaders Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, especially in the left-wing media, the party received overwhelming support.

Left-wing hate-mongering – calling people they oppose racists and fascists – didn't work. Most people consider such tactics offensive and desperate smear campaigns.

The new government offers an opportunity to reaffirm the principles of Zionism: That the Land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and Israel is a democracy.

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Politicians in America, Canada, the EU and elsewhere may dislike the results of the election and its implications, but they are not threatened daily by Palestinian Arab terrorists. In fact, many of these politicians support these terrorists, if only by funneling funds to the Palestinian Authority, which uses the money to pay terrorists and their families.

Many of these politicians also support the two-state solution, despite Palestinian leaders' innumerable declarations that they oppose Israel's very existence and support Holocaust denial, terrorism and violence in general. This is not even to mention their open anti-Semitism.

That is what the election was all about. And it explains why one person, Ben-Gvir, was the focus of left-wing ire. He represents Israelis who oppose the two-state solution. He and others are unwilling to accept Arab violence in mixed Israeli cities and Palestinian terrorism in general. They have the courage to stand against such violence and assert that we don't have to live in fear.

This election was a vote for Israeli sovereignty and the rule of law. It was a vote against the Palestinian narrative. Israelis showed that they do not want to live with illusions and delusions. They want reality.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Why do many people think that Israel is a "racist," "apartheid" state that oppresses Palestinians and engages in "ethnic genocide"? Why do they think that Israel is "illegally occupying Palestinian territory" and "stealing Palestinian land?"

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Why do they think that giving terrorist organizations, such as the PLO and Hamas, money and a state will bring peace? Why do they support NGOs that demonize Israel and seek to destroy it? Why do they support BDS against Israel?

Although all of the above is false and has been refuted, why do people still believe them? It makes no sense.

The problem is a lack of critical thinking – something that higher education used to and should still be about. We are no longer taught to ask questions; we rely on "experts," politicians and communal leaders for answers. We are fed slogans by the media and organizations with an agenda.

Although the importance of critical thinking is discussed in books and on the Internet, few are willing to engage in the challenging and often upsetting process, which requires intellectual effort and self-examination. It is, however, essential to creativity and self-improvement.

It is necessary in order to be truly informed, rather than "woke." It requires going beyond meaningless mantras and labels, such as "progressive," "liberal" or "conservative."

Public diplomacy ("hasbara") on behalf of Israel has thus been ineffective, as it ignores the resistance of those who believe that they already have all the answers and refuse to engage in critical thinking. It cannot compete with anti-Israel academics and biased journalists who are assumed to be objective.

It cannot successfully refute anti-Israel NGOs and Muslim organizations dedicated to Israel's destruction. It won't prevent European countries and the United Nations from opposing Israel's existence in order to achieve "Palestinian self-determination."

Efforts to present Israel's case, moreover, are stymied by those who promote a phony "peace process" – a PLO/Hamas-run state – and advocate Israel's withdrawal from areas that it seized during the 1967 Six-Day War. Some of the latter support the Palestinian narrative of the nakba (Arabic for the "catastrophe" of Israel's establishment in 1948), and bemoan its victory in the "war of annihilation" waged against it by five Arab nations and the Muslim world.

Fundamentally, the real question that Israel's existence presents is the possibility of another holocaust, which Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, proclaim as their goal. It is what the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas's sponsor, declares.

It is explicit in the PLO Covenant and Hamas Charter. It is the reason for Palestinian suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks. It's why the PLO and Hamas promote terrorism and are willing to sacrifice their own populations in order to attack Jews.

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It is what David Brooks called the "cult of martyrdom;" it's the focus of Matthias Kuntzel's book, Jihad and Jew-hatred; Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11.

Rather than face this reality, many Israelis prefer to ignore it. As a result, Israel loses not only its battle for the truth but its war for the hearts and minds of future generations.

Based on critical thinking, a new approach to hasbara should focus on challenging assumptions and raising questions, as well as providing answers. It requires making sense. As the great French philosopher, René Descartes, observed, "Cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am.")

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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