Bret Stephens joined the Centre for Independent Studies for part 2 in our debate series on the Middle East. He provided the counter to John Mearsheimer’s recent talk arguing that Israel is committing ethnic cleansing.
According to Stephens the critics of Israel who claim that Jews must choose between Zionism and liberalism have it backward. The illiberals aren’t the people defending the right of an imperfect but embattled democracy to defend its territory and save its hostages. They are the people who, like the former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, want Israel wiped off the map and aren’t ashamed to say so.
Meanwhile, the best way to get Hamas to stop fighting is to beat it. No Israeli government is going to agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank if it risks resembling Gaza.