Matters Of Fact

To the editor: I am distressed by what was revealed by Bernie Sanders' op-ed, "No more US complicity with Netanyahu's war machine in Gaza." It revealed that a long-time United States Senator could be incredibly ignorant. Putting aside the fact that Israel currently has but one brigade in Gaza, which hardly comprises a "war machine," it's not Netanyahu's war and it's not against the Palestinian Arab people. The Israeli army has been doing what a united Israeli public demands, knowing that not succeeding in what President Biden himself acknowledged must be done - destroying Hamas - would be a disaster for Israel. An not just for Israel. If Israel doesn't succeed in destroying Hamas, it will be a disaster for America and for the entire democratic world, a disaster which might be impossible to overcome. Israel is fighting a just and necessary war against evil and, contrary to the misinformation spread by Sanders, it is fighting it in a highly mor

To the editor: Elizabeth Warren is both too intelligent and, as a long-serving United States Senator, too well-informed to believe there's even a scintilla of validity to the case brought against Israel by the corrupt, pro-Hamas South African regime. I share her belief that the the equally corrupt ICJ, dominated by "justices" appointed by and following the diktats of the world's worst violators of human rights, will likely uphold South Africa's (baseless) charges. Inexplicably, she went beyond expressing that reasonable belief when she said those judges "have ample evidence to do so?" Besides demonstrating her own moral bankruptcy, promoting a blood libel also empowers not only Hamas, its fellow terror groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and their primary sponsors and financiers Iran and Qatar, but the rest of America's most dangerous enemies, including Russia, China and North Korea. In doing so, she increases the dangers faced n

To the editor: I am distressed by what was revealed by Bernie Sanders' op-ed, "No more US complicity with Netanyahu's war machine in Gaza." It revealed that a long-time United States Senator could be incredibly ignorant. Putting aside the fact that Israel currently has but one brigade in Gaza, which hardly comprises a "war machine," it's not Netanyahu's war and it's not against the Palestinian Arab people. The Israeli army has been doing what a united Israeli public demands, knowing that not succeeding in what President Biden himself acknowledged must be done - destroying Hamas - would be a disaster for Israel. An not just for Israel. If Israel doesn't succeed in destroying Hamas, it will be a disaster for America and for the entire democratic world, a disaster which might be impossible to overcome. Israel is fighting a just and necessary war against evil and, contrary to the misinformation spread by Sanders, it is fighting it in a highly mor

To the editor: It's just over six months since Hamas, along with other terror groups and thousands of ordinary Gaza civilians, perpetrated the worst slaughter of Jews since the Shoah. Polls in November showed 98% of the Arabs in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza felt more proud of their Palestinian identity thanks to that atrocity. Israel had no alternative but to defend its citizens to prevent Hamas from carrying out its promise to repeat that slaughter "again and again." Despite the vile nature of its enemy, Israel has done more than any other army in history to prevent unnecessary harm to the civilians in Gaza, few of whom are actually innocent. My first thought, reading the headline "I'm Jewish, and I've covered wars. I know war crimes when I see them" of Peter Maass' April 9 commentary was that it's pretty clear he's hallucinating. This was confirmed "again and again" by the content of his misguided article, but he really went

Dear Editor: Lawyer. College professor. United States Senator. Elizabeth Warren is obviously highly intelligent and well briefed. She thus must know her statement that the International Court of Justice has "ample evidence" to find Israel is guilty of genocide is not just totally disconnected from reality, but a gift to a terrorist group - Hamas - that actually calls for genocide, as well as Iran, Russia and all of America's worst enemies. She compounded her offense by saying, for her, "it is far more important to say what Israel is doing is wrong, and it is wrong." She's obsessed with demonizing Israel, a democratic friend and ally fighting an existential struggle against a terrorist enemy whose very charter calls for what she falsely says Israel is guilty of. Being so intelligent and well briefed, surely she knows that Israel, while fighting for its survival against the epitome of evil, has done more to avoid harming innocent civilians than any other army

To the editor: In the April 4 article "Keeping heat on Biden over Gaza," Senator Elizabeth Warren is quoted as saying "This is not about politics. This is about doing what's right." Unfortunately, she has things backwards. That's how it should be, but lately it's been all about politics and not about doing what's right. President Biden has to stop trying to get the votes of the pathological Israel-haters. He needs to stop looking for excuses to criticize Israel. He needs to help put an end to the tragedy in Gaza by standing solidly with Israel as it works to effectively eliminate Hamas and the other terror groups which have been busy strengthening themselves, repressing the people and continually attacking Israelis ever since Israel completely left Gaza in 2005. Instead of relentlessly criticizing Israel, he should be recognizing our democratic friend has done more than any other country in history to minimize civilian casualties and its efforts have

Dear Newsweek: Angela McArdle is correct that "War is more offensive than protesters" (April 18, 2024), but is wrong about just about everything else she writes. As is typical of apologists for Palestinian Arabs, she repeatedly falsely accuses Israel of doing what the Palestinian Arabs are attempting,  including genocide, which is explicitly called for in the Hamas charter. I might also point out that Israel's "violent origin story" began millennia before the United States came on the scene. She might try attending a Passover seder this week and learning Israel's origin story. She closes with another rare accurate observation: "The fog of war tends to obscure everything around an issue, including the history of these conflicts." I suspect the fog of war has nothing to do with her profound lack of understanding of the conflict the Arabs in the Land of Israel started long before they adopted the identity of Palestinian. Sincerely, Alan Stein

To the editor: Being at Hostages Square and wanting to support the hostages and their families, I bought a dog tag, a cap, and a T-shirt and have worn them, but with mixed feelings because I believe the message on them, “Bring Them Home Now,” is the wrong message directed at the wrong party. The message should be: “Force Hamas to Let Our People Go.” The far too few hostages who were released would still be in Gaza were it not for the military pressure applied to Hamas; to bring the rest of them home, we must not just maintain but increase the pressure on Hamas. Pressuring our government to make a deal encourages Hamas, makes any deal to release any of the remaining hostages less likely, and raises the price if another deal ever gets made. After the recent ramping up of pressure on our government by some of the families, and reading the analysis by Herb Keinon in “Mixing messages in protest misses mark” (April 1), I feel it would be too counterproductive to display the message which my

To the editor: Bernard-Henri Lévy did an excellent job of describing the horrendous consequences for Israel and the Middle East if President Biden, Anthony Blinken and Chuck Schumer continue on their present path of hamstringing Israel and handing a victory to the perpetrators of the October 7 Massacre. What he didn't describe were the disastrous consequences for America. After the abandonment of both American citizens and Afghanis who loyally worked with the United States in Afghanistan, the abandonment of Israel, our most reliable friend and ally in the Middle East and arguably in the world, would destroy much of what's left of trust in America and its willingness to both act justly and stand by our commitments to our friends. The negative consequences for America itself, not to mention the rest of the free world, would be devastating and possibly irreversible. I have disagreed with actions by our government before, but could usually understand the rationale for them. Never b

To the editor: In "Israel presses on with targeted strikes in Gaza," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is quoted as saying "the number of civilian casualties [in Gaza] is far too high." Given that the proportion of civilian casualties in Gaza has been far, far below that in any instance of urban warfare not involving Israel, why have we never heard similar criticism leveled at other armies, including our own, that have done far less to avoid civilian casualties and been far less successful at it? Sincerely, Alan Stein Sent to the Boston Globe March 27, 2023