SPECIAL EDITION: Your responses to my essay on Israel.

I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”

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Today's read: 13 minutes.

Correction.

In our coverage of the medicare drug pricing negotiations yesterday, we said that four of the Medicare Part D drugs for which the government had negotiated lower prices were over-prescribed in the United States. That was false — we misread the abstract of a study, and rushed our review process when we included it in the “My take.” In reality, four of the 10 most frequently prescribed drug classes are overprescribed, which are not the same as the 10 drugs affected by the price negotiations. A sincere thank you to the ten or so readers who caught the error.

This is our 114th correction in Tangle's 263-week history and our first correction since August 13th. We track corrections and place them at the top of the newsletter in an effort to maximize transparency with readers.

Quick hits.

1. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from March 2023 to March 2024 than initially reported. (The report)
2. Civil defense officials in the Gaza Strip claimed an Israeli strike on a school killed at least 12 people; Israel said the school was housing a Hamas command and control center. (The strike) Separately, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza. (The recovery)
3. Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, suggested Kennedy might drop out and support former President Donald Trump. (The comments) 
4. The Montana Secretary of State’s Office certified that the state’s general election ballot will include the initiative on abortion rights, making Montana the eighth state with an abortion-related measure on the ballot in 2024. (The announcement)
5. The U.S. Department of Justice declined to challenge a $1 billion merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, though the deal is still subject to Department of Transportation review. (The merger)

DNC coverage.

I'm out at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago. A lot of readers have been asking why we didn’t go to the Republican National Convention. The answer is pretty simple: We applied for press passes to both, but the RNC didn’t accept us. We don’t know why. It is not because of any perceived partisanship — the RNC approved many liberal reporters, and here at the DNC I’ve seen everyone from Charlie Kirk to Kellyanne Conway, and Fox News has their own booth. Anyway, the DNC gave us credentials, so we came.  

Speaking of our perceived biases, we are doing a reader feedback edition today. On Friday, in our members-only post, I'm going to empty my notebook on the DNC in the newsletter. And one last programming note: If you’re interested in the DNC, check out today’s podcast, which is going to diverge from this piece with some on-the-ground coverage — it should be up this afternoon. So be sure to tune in to the podcast, and check us out on Instagram (including my five thoughts on Day 2) and YouTube for our live coverage!

Setting the table.

Every now and then, we send out newsletters compiling feedback on something we published. Today is one of those days. We do this because our mission is to share a wide range of perspectives on the news, and one good way to do that is to crowdsource those perspectives from our readers — who live all over the world and have varying degrees of expertise, all sorts of interests, and a huge variety of worldviews.

On Friday, we published a personal essay that I wrote about what is happening in Gaza. If I could sum up the piece in one sentence, it'd be this: If you support the continuation of the war, you have to look clearly at the reality on the ground and evaluate Israel's actions critically. If you haven't read the piece yet, you can do so here (warning: It contains sensitive images, and it is behind a paywall).

I expected the piece to draw a lot of fire from readers, and in some respects it did. But, to be frank, I was surprised at how much positive feedback it received — even from those who strongly disagreed with me. Many people wrote in saying they appreciated the bravery of the piece; others wrote in saying they disagreed strongly with my points, but could tell I was writing honestly and thoughtfully; some said I changed their minds about the issue; a few criticized me for taking so long to write the piece, and said I didn't go far enough in criticizing Israel or abandoning Zionism. As always, a small handful of people called me a fool or a shill or unsubscribed in a rage, but the vast majority were very respectful. I responded to as many of you as I could, but thank you to everyone who wrote in with their support or respectfully shared their thoughts.

I've selected a representation of the whole range of responses: supportive, critical, indifferent, relieved, sad, angry, and grateful. Some are examples of the most common responses, while others I'm sharing because of how unique they are. Due to the sensitivity of this issue, I've decided to keep all the responses anonymous, though I've added helpful details about the respondents where I can.

Before we begin, I do want to address one of the most common responses I got from a lot of people: "Where is the writing about Hamas's atrocities?" I tried to make this as clear as I could in the piece, but we've published dozens of articles about this conflict, and I've personally written about Hamas in Tangle or spoken about them on our podcast so many times I've lost count. Friday's piece was not about Hamas. It was about Israel, my relationship with Israel, what the ramifications of their military actions are, and how my feelings are evolving. If you want more context about this war, or want to see what I think about Hamas, the roots of the conflict, or anything else — you can read any one of the many other articles we've published.

So, without further ado, here is your criticism and feedback to my personal essay on Israel.

Feedback.

One reader wrote in critically about the piece, defending Israel's actions. "I feel all the pain you do watching what’s happening in Gaza. My overarching criticism of this piece is that it was imbalanced by almost exclusively looking at the terrible costs Gazans are facing and will face, and not weighing the costs that Israel would pay if they didn’t accomplish their goals of dismantling the threats from Hamas and returning the hostages. These threats may not seem so acute in the near term, but it's not hard to imagine it leading to a slow and painful dissolution of Israel, via a fracturing of society, in the medium-to-long-term, or something more sudden beforehand...

While Hamas may not appear like a strategic threat, and they certainly aren't one in a direct or immediate sense, there is now a unique and arguably existential risk to Israel that has arisen, for 2 main reasons that stem from an internal and external sense if Israel was perceived to be unable to protect their citizens: 

1. Internal — Israeli society will fracture into 2 groups, hawks and doves, like never seen before. In the era of deep polarization we’ve seen around the world, and within Israel, this will lead to a severe weakening of the state and the military. Ultimately though, with most Israelis sensing a do or die choice, the hawks will dominate even more than today, which will aggrieve the world and our allies even further.
2. External — It is not just a turn of phrase, or a way to express machismo: in the Middle East, one cannot afford to appear weak. If Israel does not show that they are both able to protect their citizens, and willing to effectively dispense of threats, it will embolden Israel’s many other regional enemies (mostly fueled by Iran) to escalate their threats and attacks. 

These two interrelated threats would exacerbate each other in a vicious cycle that would end very badly not just for Israel, but cause instability throughout the Middle East that would spread throughout the world. Thus, Israel, and the Western world, have no choice but to eliminate Hamas.

I personally don’t believe there is a way for Israel to maintain their security with Hamas in place, and there’s no way to eliminate Hamas without major loss of life for Gazan civilians, not to mention that Gazans can never be free & safe & live in peace while Hamas rules."

A Palestinian-American reader criticized the piece for not going far enough. "I think there’s still some part of you that really wants the state of Israel to be the noble place you’ve lauded throughout your life. It’s evident from your positioning. 'Israel has managed to kill a historically low ratio of civilians to combatants for urban warfare' – how do you know that? You question the Gaza Health Ministry’s numbers and look for holes in that but you take Israel’s word on the number of combatants killed? Even though they provide zero evidence? 

You say hundreds of journalists have been killed, but provide no frame of reference. Over 160 have been killed. Many of them deliberately targeted, like Ismail Al-Ghoul. 63 were killed in Vietnam over two decades. 69 were killed in WWII, the bloodiest conflict in modern warfare, over six years. 17 have been killed in Ukraine since 2022. 

If these numbers are in doubt, there should be an independent investigation. And it should be highlighted that Israel does not allow independent investigation. It is a deliberate act. They don’t want the truth in the light. They force you to take their word. 

You failed to mention the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. The most glaring indicator that Israel has no intention of saving its hostages or reaching a permanent ceasefire deal is to kill the head negotiator sitting on the other side of the table. 

You still fail to use the word genocide, though at this point I don’t see how you can argue against it. The leveling of Gaza and the greatest upswing in ethnic cleansing in the West Bank in decades–it’s clear that Israel is trying, in whole or in part, to destroy Palestine. The legal definition of genocide.

And while you are closer, I think you fail to grapple with the reality of the state of Israel. You do not address its crime of apartheid, which the ICJ has just affirmed. You do not address that it is a state founded on these crimes of ethnic cleansing, murder, sexual violence, and rape. The very IDF that was formed upon Israel’s foundation was the conglomeration of several terrorist paramilitaries that inflicted violent terror attacks on Palestinians for decades. And you fail to fully address the brutal military occupation and continued colonial expansion that led to the formation of resistance groups. The economic warfare and collective punishment that drove people to the brink of starvation. Israeli officials even calculated the minimum caloric intake necessary to avoid malnutrition without causing outright starvation. Dov Weisglass, a then senior advisor to PM Ehud Olmert explained that Israeli policy was designed to “put Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” The daily terrorism that Palestinians face not only at the hands of the Israeli military, but of the radical settlers who evict Palestinians from their homes, attack and kill them under the protection of the Israeli military, and raze their villages to the ground.

This is Israel. A state built by people who decided that a land they did not live on will now be theirs by force, and will be so through the expulsion of the local population. This was always the plan, from Theodore Herzl to Ben Gurion and his fourth revision for a plan to expel Palestinians — Plan Dalet. Gurion could not have said it more clearly himself, “Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country.” And also, “It’s not a matter of maintaining the status quo. We have to create a dynamic state, oriented towards expansion.” And that is exactly what Israel has done...

That’s not to mention the racist system that discriminates against Palestinians solely due to their race within the state of Israel. The glaring example here being that segregation is legal and 80% of land in Israel is off-limits for Palestinian citizens of Israel. The “Admissions Committees Law” allows Jewish towns to exclude Palestinian residents, legally... This is not a few rogue actors, this is policy. Decades of policy. Decades of abuse, humiliation, torture, sexual violence, theft, and murder. Terrorism, day in, day out, on a state level. 

Why should a state like this exist in this capacity? Why shouldn’t we demand better? You might have an emotional connection to this land but god dammit you are not the only one.

You want to know why people say “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free?” — because it’s inclusive. Palestine before Israel was beautifully diverse, with Christians, Muslims, Jews (who made up nearly 10% of the population in 1917) Druze, Bedouins, etc. This idea that we need to segregate by race or religion continues to baffle me. Jews surely have a claim to the land, but by no means are they the only ones with a claim to it. The land has been home to Moabites, Jebusites, Caananites, Philistines, and many other people in Palestine before, during, and after the 200-250 years of Israelite dominance. To isolate only one of these groups, whomever they may be, as the only one with a claim to the land is nothing short of fundamentalism...

You say you don’t have a solution, well let me offer one. Freedom, dignity, democracy, for everyone between the river and the sea. People say it’s complicated, it’s not. You are either advocating for a free and democratic state for every single person within its borders, or you are advocating for segregation. There is no in between."

An Israeli reader wrote in thanking me for the piece. "Thank you for having the courage to write your recent piece about the war here in Israel/Gaza. I know you're going to get a lot of serious pushback and even some outright hate. You will, I'd bet money, be called a ‘capo’ and a ‘self hating Jew.’ I've been trying with my own tiny platform to at least sensitize people to the ‘other side.’

Even on the days immediately following October 7 I was saying, though I didn't have the courage to write, that maybe we should respond differently. Maybe we shouldn't follow the playbook Hamas had laid out for us. I thought that we should try thinking outside the box, take a minute, let us grieve and let the world grieve for us. Maybe even build a coalition to do what 10 months of powerful armed might has yet to accomplish. But I knew better. Already on the afternoon of the 7th I heard the planes and felt the bombing. (Yes, here in Bet Shemesh, 30 miles Northeast of Gaza, we can feel the ground shake when Israel bombs in Northern Gaza.) I knew the makeup of our government and that it would be impossible for it to respond any other way. 

This has been an excruciating 10 months. My small shul has 100 names on a list we pray for every Shabbat of young people serving in the war. I've been to too many Shiva calls for young fathers, including the son of one of our dearest friends whom we've known since he was a little boy back in New Jersey. I also grieve for the children of Gaza. And unlike many of those around me, there's no "but" attached. I grieve for Israeli society and many Jews around the world for whom Hamas's vicious attack and this war have stolen so much of their compassion and humanity. I just passed my 20th anniversary of making Aliyah. I couldn't celebrate. I'm wracked with doubt and disappointment. And it's not just the war, but even the year preceding it as I watched the formation of a coalition that was anathema to me and in opposition to so many of the values I stand for and I thought the Israel I made Aliyah to did too. 

I'm also a hopeful person. We are at a historical inflection point. The coalition that came together to defend Israel from Iran's attack in April reflects a massive change in the geopolitics of the Middle East. There is a potential to turn this tragic situation into something exceedingly positive that could lead to regional peace and a state for the Palestinians. That will take courage that I believe our current government lacks, but that maybe the next one could leverage. It's a long shot. I know.

And yes, we must cease firing now. Most of Israel's top security establishment is saying that we can and that we should. We can get hostages back, give our soldiers a break, give the Gazans a break, de-escalate the tensions with Iran and Lebanon, let citizens in South Lebanon and Northern Israel go home. Yes, there's a risk, but this is not the US leaving Afghanistan and moving its troops thousands of miles away. We'll always be literally on the border and can return in a moment's notice. The other rays of hope are the voices of peace. There are organizations like Combatants for Peace, Roots and Standing Together with thousands of Israelis and Palestinians working to forge a peaceful path forward even now, specifically now, through so much pain. And there are individuals as well.

This is a really frightening moment in Jewish, Mideast and world history. Voices like yours are so important in helping us navigate it. Thank you."

One reader voiced their strong disagreement. “I am in utter disagreement with your take on what is happening in Gaza. 

There is NO moral equivalence between the brutal, savage terrorist group(s) aimed at the bloody destruction of Jews in Israel and across the world—butchers who rape, maim, kidnap, murder, glorify death, and openly celebrate their heinous acts with glee—and the tiny but extraordinary country that is the one and only safe harbor for Jews, the one place in the Middle East that is welcoming of people of all faiths and ethnicities and orientations, a country of community and care and innovation and resilience and humanity, a country fighting for its very existence and the safety of all its people, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and otherwise. 

Your writing fuels the flames of the demonization of Israel. It adds to the ‘legitimacy’ of the anti Zionism and Jew hatred that is already gravely dangerous, horrifying in its breadth and its fervor. You choose to believe and disseminate the awful lies, myth, propaganda, distortion, and just plain bullshit, about the ways in which Israel is defending itself and protecting its people. You are distorting reality when you report on (Hamas-reported) deaths of ‘innocents’ being killed in Gaza while you ignore what Hamas has done and continues to do to exploit, starve, and murder its own people and use them as shields to further their demonization of Israel. 

Yes, of course, there are tragic civilian losses, but Israel didn’t start this war, and it is fighting to dismantle an evil force bent on the annihilation of Israel and the Jews, one which has billions of dollars of support from evil actors such as Iran and Qatar, which hides under civilian homes and schools and hospitals and child care centers to make it impossible for Israel to destroy their arms and supplies without looking like butchers themselves. 

You are foolish. You are smug. You are a danger to Israel and Jews everywhere. I will not be reading your inflammatory nonsense any more.”

A reader wrote in to thank us for our continued coverage. “I'm sure your inbox will be flooded, so I want to start off by thanking you sincerely for writing this. I can't imagine how hard it is for you, as someone who loves Israel and has friends there, to confront the extent to which Israeli society continues to dehumanize and devalue the lives of Palestinians in these terrible, systemic ways that we’re seeing. It took a lot of courage, honesty, and self-confidence to write this, and that's why I love following your work.

I know I've barely dipped my toes into the history and politics of this conflict, but I've genuinely tried to seek out Israeli and Palestinian perspectives in literature and in political commentary. I have a very low opinion of radicals who minimize Israeli trauma or celebrate the evil of 10/7. No cause can ever justify breaking into saferooms to shoot unarmed families or taking young partygoers hostage. But equally, I believe something is terribly, deeply rotten in a society where a government minister can justify the rape of a powerless, incarcerated person, or forcing a handcuffed person to walk into a potentially boobytrapped tunnel, and not be fired or disavowed forcefully from across the political spectrum. I believe such a country has fundamentally lost its way. Israeli trauma is understandable; their response to this trauma is irrational and unhealthy.

I also believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the worst, most selfish political leaders in modern history. He seems to be actively seeking a regional war that will dwarf the horrific carnage in Gaza, with no regard for his own people or anyone else. And I believe he's doing it in part because he expects America, Britain, Germany, and other Western countries to back him pretty much unconditionally, as they've always done. I don't want to be drawn into a destructive and destabilizing war because of this man and his far-right puppet masters. I believe that one of the best ways to check Israeli extremism is to change the relationship between America and Israel. We shouldn't abandon Israel, but wagging a finger and issuing mild condemnations while continuing to give them virtually unlimited access to military technology won't change their behavior. I truly think Netanyahu is taking America for granted, laughing at how our political leaders dance to his tune for fear of any criticism being labeled anti-semitism. 

So we should sanction far-right settlers who are attacking and dispossessing Palestinians, including American organizations who fund them and the government ministers who cover for them. We need to stop conflating pro-Palestinian speech with pro-terrorism speech. American companies should be incentivized to stop doing business in illegal settlements. We can't greet land theft and brutal occupation with sanctions and loud condemnations when it happens in eastern Europe and turn a blind eye and throw up our hands when Israel is doing it. In short, I think Israel needs some tough love from the U.S. and other western supporters. Private entreaties clearly are not cutting it. 

Once again, thank you for writing this piece and reading my feedback.” 

A reader wrote in with more concerns about Zionism. “Thank you for this piece. It is brave and detailed and honest and important. We live in a better journalistic world for it having been written.

I have, when pressed for feedback on Tangle in the past, expressed my discomfort with you labeling yourself as a Zionist. In this piece, you responded to a reader question asking about whether the dramatic and tragic loss of life in Gaza is an effect intended by Hamas. I would challenge you to consider the inverse: if the methodology of Zionism over time - but especially since October 7th of last year - has reflected an incrementalist trend in which Palestinian people are displaced and killed in contexts and with degrees of violence and civilian casualty that becoming increasingly difficult to justify, then:

How bad does the violence need to become before we begin to reexamine Zionism itself? When millions of people are cut off from the resources they need to live with the understanding that they have no reasonable means of recourse or alternative provision, at what point does that stop being a war and start being a genocide? What percentage of the Palestinian people need to be displaced or killed before we say that the complete eradication of Palestine was always an intended effect of Zionism? 40%? 60%? 90%?

Thank you for all of the excellent work the Tangle team does. I think it is tremendously valuable to dive deep into hard questions with a level head. We need more people like you in journalism, and in the world. I share your work whenever I can in the hopes that it will inspire others.”

An Israel supporter shared the reasons why Israel must push on. “Well written and reasoned. I have 2 points to consider:

1. Israel needs to violently and swiftly finish this war, punish any of its troops that engaged in war crimes to the fullest extent of the law, and occupy Gaza for the long term. It’s not pretty and is brutal. But it is the path of least suffering for all involved.

2. It will take 5 generations to quell the population at least. 

More on both points below.

1. The West has not finished a war satisfactorily since WWII and it’s thinking like this that is the reason why.  I'm not accusing you of anything or saying that you are wrong. Because you are right. Those videos and images are horrific and only barely convey how horrible things can be, while I sit here on my couch, safe and comfortable with a full belly after a good dinner. But I have deployed. I'm still active duty. I've made the decision where a bomb should be dropped and seen the full color aftermath of my decisions. So I can tell you in all sincerity that this is not special. This is war. War is hell, and much much worse than hell. At least in hell everyone deserves to be there. Most of these people don't, on either side. However... how many more years of low grade conflict where exactly the scenarios you laid out about young boys becoming future terrorists plays out continues to occur and the suffering of the Palestinians continues with occasional retribution from the IDF preferable? 

Or should Israel finish the job? Defeat Hamas, occupy and control the Gaza strip, maintain law and order as harshly as is necessary while building schools, hospitals, mosques, infrastructure, and more for what are now legitimately Israeli citizens. Or at least people Israel is actually responsible for, instead of the murky gray area Palestinians occupied until 10/7. Additionally, Israel should do this as quickly and violently as possible. Right now, we are witnessing what would have happened had American and Russian troops invaded Japan to end WWII. What actually happened in Soviet occupied Germany and Afghanistan, and American occupied Vietnam. 

War takes normal young men and women and turns them into monsters. It isn't an excuse but most of the soldiers are normal people driven to horrible things. They should be punished, but we should try to limit their exposure and opportunity to do terrible things. Attempting to make war clean and free of collateral damage instead means more collateral damage and worse suffering. In fact for most wars, the most deaths are not caused by fighting, but by the disruption to agriculture, medical care, and infrastructure. A swift violent war in contrast allows much more rapid reassertion of order and rebuilding. And there are strong arguments that a swift violent execution may actually kill less civilians overall.

To sum up point 1: Israel should attack violently and swiftly. Assert complete control and remain in control for as long as it takes to quell the population. This will ensure the least suffering and the most preservation of life and morality.

2. It takes 5 generations to win a war. The current generation hates the occupier because they or their parents fought the war and lost and they remember the horrors. The second generation hates you because they either saw parts of the war or saw the aftermath while growing up with parents that hate you. The third generation hates you because they were raised to hate you, but they also went to the schools you built, used the infrastructure, and lived with the law and order you provided their whole lives. So when they raise the 4th generation they don't impart the same hatred. The 4th generation says they hate you, but they don't really care, their parents only occasionally remember to hate you outright and grandma and grandpa are old fuddy duddies, besides that young Israeli MP is kinda cute in his uniform. That 5th generation: They don’t hate you. Grandpa and grandma say they do, but they like to get candy from the MPs for their grandkids. Mom and dad say they do, but mom's best friend married an Israeli and they all get along great. And they get all the candy that they know is from the occupiers.

That is what it takes to win a war.”

Another reader expressed disappointment that it took me this long to write the piece I wrote. “I read your entire newsletter, and the one thing that I took away was just how long it took you to come to these conclusions. I would say you have been living under a rock, but clearly you attempt to be informed. But good god aid workers, hospital personnel, and prisoners have been screaming about this for months! Unfortunately you are a member of an ‘ism’ and no ‘ism’ wants to believe that their people could do such things. Israel has not lost its moral compass, it has stomped on it and became exactly like the country that was fought against in WWII. And the Israeli people are complicit in every action that has been committed…

As you pointed out, the children of the Palestinians will NOT forget. They will be radicalized and any ‘victory’ that Israel thinks it has will evaporate into smoke filled, death filled air. The land (of the Middle East or near east) has been at war for millenia. Humans have been at war since we came into existence. It is impossible to ‘rehabilitate’ the ‘losers’ of a war, EVER. You only have to look at the USA. I live in NC and I can promise you the people whose ancestors fought for the confederates in the Civil war....generations removed from the war....are still angry, and would be happy to start another Civil War. 

Humanity is incapable of peace, period! As much as the world wants to believe that democracy will bring peace, it will NOT. The oppression of one people over another is in our DNA.  War atrocities will never stop.”

One reader addressed a specific quote of mine. “‘I wish I were writing to you with news of a swift, precise military victory conducted with remarkable restraint and moral conduct.’

I wish the Biden administration had not acted to restrain Israel early on. Had it not, I believe Israel would have acted with a much swifter, stronger response that would have left far fewer Gazans dead and injured.  

The longer wars continue, the greater the destruction. While I would still vote for the Democrats (if I were an American, which I'm not), I believe Biden made the wrong decision to hold Israel back. John Spencer, whom you should consider interviewing, has argued that Israel should have begun its invasion immediately, not three months later, and should have simultaneously gone into both the south and north of Gaza. Armaments kept flowing into Gaza through the southern Philadelphi Corridor, but Israel had committed to directing civilians to the south and not going there until months later. I think Spencer is right that they should have invaded the south and the north simultaneously, moving civilians into the centre (where there were fewer Hamas resources).

Many young Americans think the US should not support Israel in its war to the extent it does. I think you should consider whether restraining it did more harm than good.”

The reader who posed the question about Hamas’s responsibility criticized an analogy I used in the piece. “The analogy you construct struck me as completely inapplicable. In your imaginary construct, zapping the magic button attached to your neighbor's child accomplishes exactly nothing, so there is no reason, but for a possible evil cruelty, to push the button once it is attached to the child. A more direct analogy would be this: your children are playing in the street in front of your house, and your neighbor is shooting at them with a gun. You can shoot him and save your children, but he is hiding behind his own children, so saving your children means there is a good chance his will die. This is the horrible moral conundrum in which Israel has been placed. And if you think I am overstating it, I know many Israelis who believe that the lives and futures of their children are at stake in this war. I am in no position to tell them that they are wrong.

As an ‘invented’ metaphor, the one I came up with above actually resembles a true story I read. It was a harrowing first hand account of an IDF soldier describing being in Gaza and encountering a young child (definitely pre-teen) with a bomb vest strapped to his torso as he approached that soldier's comrades. The soldier had a split second decision to make: shoot and kill the child, or risk the lives of his fellow soldiers. He chose the latter, and, thankfully, was able to get the vest off the child before it exploded. He describes suffering horrible PTSD (though he doesn't use that phrase specifically) as a result of the choice he made to, potentially, sacrifice his comrades.

So I ask you, Isaac, is it possible that the doctors you put so much stock in who have been horrified by seeing Palestinian children who were shot in the head have failed to consider that there is an explanation for this tragedy beside the bloodthirsty barbarity of the Israeli soldiers?  Is it possible that the event I read of was not a one-off incident and other Palestinian children have been fitted with bomb vests and set out into the streets to confront IDF soldiers?  What should a soldier do in this situation? Sacrifice his own life and that of his comrades to save the child? The one soldier whose account I read chose to risk exactly that. It is a tragic and heartbreaking position to put a young soldier in.”

Finally, a reader wrote in to thank us for our coverage. “What I admire about your writing, in this and your other columns, is that it reflects three traits that in my view are essential to first-rate thinking and first-rate journalism. Namely, you are inquisitive, reflective, and measured. What makes these even more notable in the current article is that you have an obvious interest as a practicing Jew and because of your ties to Israel. Few are able to maintain the integrity of a moral compass against the magnetic pull of identity-affiliation. You do this exceptionally well... Keep up the great work, Isaac. Tangle matters. Believe that it makes a difference.”

We also got a lot of interesting comments on the piece. I’ve highlighted a few of them here.

“We need a definition of who the aggressor is and who the liberator is. While the people in Gaza suffer, they should see the Israeli forces as liberators, happy to be free from the tyranny of Hamas. It seems to me that this isn't the case. The sacrifices and destruction that Germans witnessed during WWII did not result in more extremists fighting the allies. It was clear that the Nazis were the enemy and the true cause of the horrible results of war. If we, as objective and logical humans, can define who the true enemy is, then we can properly frame what has happened. If we continue to oscillate and say "we see bad on both sides," we really should never fight against oppressors or tyrannical regimes — since there is bad on both sides. I think in this case, Hamas should be viewed for what they are — absolute evil terrorists that need to be removed from Gaza. Gazans should welcome that outcome and rejoice in the presence of the IDF — as liberators. The fact that that statement is probably laughable to most Gazans is a big problem. We should not aid and abet Gazans’ delusions around that fact by suggesting that Israel WANTS to kill them.

The IDF has absolute superiority from a weapons of war perspective. If they wanted to just wipe out everyone in Gaza... pretty sure they could. The fact that they are trying to target Hamas shows their restraint and attempt at saving Gazans' lives amidst a war.

A two state solution has been proposed. The PA has historically declined these types of arrangements. Ask most Palestinians where to draw the lines and they will likely say all of Israel is occupied. How does Israel negotiate with that view? It is a show stopper. For the West to continue to prod Israel into making a deal, when the only real acceptable deal to the other side is that Israel doesn't exist... seems counterproductive and unrealistic. The world should pressure the PA to make a deal, paint them to be bad world actors, and push them into a corner to either make a deal or suffer the consequences of an isolated country.

The West and its allies should provide absolute support. Not supporting Israel, calling for cease fires, and being mealy-mouthed about the cause just extends the suffering of the innocent. Your example of shocking is off. Your neighbor doesn't just threaten you. They killed your kids, are keeping some of them hostage, and have been shooting bombs into your backyard for years. Comparing Hamas to a neighbor that just "threatens" you suggests they (or their kin) are not deserving of the shocks. Additionally, when the parents don't care about the kids (since they passed the shock on to them), should we not send in CPS and take the kids away and imprison/punish the parents? How silly would it then be to have the liberated kids hate CPS who rescued them from such horror? If Hamas is the sick parent, they should be removed for the sake of those who survive the war required to do so.

Lastly, the best and most humane thing to do is allow the IDF to declare victory as quickly as possible. Instead of calling for a cease fire, we should ramp up pressure on Israel to succeed and finally declare victory (a full surrender or destruction of Hamas). There should be no other outcome that is acceptable. Swift and decisive victory.”

“Thank you for writing this heart-wrenchingly difficult piece. I recently had an argument with someone I had considered a close friend (and who considered themselves a "good Christian") who would not or could not decry the violence happening in Gaza—even after I shared some images like the ones you shared in this post. I was dumbstruck.Yes, what Hamas did on Oct. 7th was evil and treacherous. But the response by Israel has been disproportional, bordering on genocide.

When the truck of World Central Kitchen aid workers was blown up—people who are just trying to make sure civilians are fed in the worst possible circumstances—I knew the senseless violence wasn't just random one-offs or "fake news."

Furthermore, I believe this violence will be responsible for endless recruitment opportunities for Hamas. I received a dual poli-sci/international relations degree with a focus on war theory from the University of Chicago in '07. My thesis was on the inefficacy of leadership decapitation in terrorist groups—they're multi-headed hydras with someone always ready to replace the fallen.And what better way for Hamas and other bad actors in the region to convince poor, disenfranchised Palestinians to sign up for an unending war on Israel, Zionists, and the West at large than to murder and rape innocents, drive people from their lands with nothing but the clothes on their backs, break the ‘rules of engagement,’ and otherwise behave like terrorists themselves? This behavior is how you convince people to become suicide bombers.There's plenty of evidence—video and otherwise—to use as fodder for recruitment against ALL Israelis/Americans/allies as a result of the government's and military's behavior. At this point it isn't propaganda, either. It has become the regular order of things.It appears that Israel won't stop (at least not of its own accord) until the entire strip is leveled and the Palestinian population is completely wiped out. But whether or not Israel's government wants to believe it, there will be Palestinians who escape and even if they weren't prone to violence before, the call to arms must be growing stronger and more sensible to them by the day.

I don't have answers either. I believe a 2-state solution is the only solution, but I have no idea how to get there. And with the damage that has already been done, I'm not sure if even that will be enough to patch up what has been broken and move forward effectively. I'm not a religious person, but whatever the secular version of praying is, I'll be doing that in hopes of a more peaceful way forward.”

"Thank you, Isaac, for an honest and thoughtful piece. I'm right there with you. I would only add that none of this is new. This is how Israel has conducted its wars since it dropped cluster bombs into dense high-rise civilian housing in Beirut neighborhoods in 1982. Same goals, more advanced techniques today.

What is new, it seems, is the way the Oct 7 attack spurred a generation of Israelis to coalesce around the idea that there is no price too high to pay (particularly in Palestinian civilian casualties) for Hamas to be destroyed. It's an emotional commitment which is deeply anchored in the people I know who've adopted it.

When I point out to them any of the many news reports you cite showing the inhumanity and illegality of the Israeli campaign, they simply respond that the news source cited is known for its willingness to manufacture 'news' to embarrass Israel. In this war, they say, the battlefield includes the news media, wittingly or not.

This reinforces the mission of Tangle: become a source of truth in a polarized world. However, it also underscores the challenge of reaching the zealots. Thanks for doing this important work!"

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