Great essay Joshua. Keep up the good work. As I wrote in a recent post, "The Jewish story, properly told, isn’t about what was done to us — it’s about what we’ve built since. And until we teach that story — unapologetically, proudly, relentlessly — we’ll keep ceding moral ground to those who mistake destruction for justice." https://jewnewsreview.substack.com/p/the-jew-news-review-november-1-2025
When MSM refuse to call Hamas 'terrorists', it's unsurprising they refer to 'settlers' as 'violent'. They just can't help their antisemitism; it's intrinsic to their whole makeup. It's in their DNA.
Add too that Israel is a massive bulwark against the Totalitarianism of the re-emergent Nazis and the Communist Left, and the Extremists of both sides know this. Thus, we have earned our keep amongst the righteous spectrum of Nations.
Nice article Joshua. Bit long. Bit defensive. No worries. Jews have been discriminated against forever. Being defensive to justify your existance is probably in your genes. Next time write something which signals power, we are here, not going away, and combine it with a warning that if you attack us again we will annex your land. Thankyou.
I agree most of what you wrote, except the issue of "violent settlers": some really are violent, and although they constitute but a small part of the Israeli citizens in the West bank, they enjoy the protection of the IDF as Israelis on the one hand, but the IDF does not stop them from attacking Palestinians on the other. So it is disingenuous to compare it to any other country that has its violent elements: here, they carry out their depredations under the protection of the Israeli army, making the country complicit. And that is because Israel does have, in fact, a "far-right government" - or at least one where the far-right gives the tone.
So while much of the hatred directed at Israel is just a new form of Jew-hatred, one must acknowledge that some of the criticism is justified, and could - and should - be honestly addressed.
I agree, Danny, but actually the Left commentariat do not actually care for the Arabs of The West Bank. The issue is just another stick by the Antisemitic Left to beat Israel with. How do we know? Because these same voices are silent in their moral tone about the Horrors when it comes to the whole of the rest of The Middle East, like Sudan and Yemen and Iran.
I agree that coming from Israel's opponents, criticism of settler violence is disingenuous. That's on them. But some people who level this criticism are strong supporters of Israel. And they are right.
In any case, this isn't even a question of external criticism. That violent Israelis commit violence unchecked by the authorities - that's on us.
The Cantonisation of The West Bank which is coming, will acknowledge the rights of The Arabs of Judea and Samaria to the farmland they presently work, plus the Arab towns of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron, and parts (and only parts) of East Jerusalem. The reason they cannot have a state is that this would give rights to both an army and to borders to traffic arms across, and most Arabs support Islamist Terrorism dressed up as self-defence.
Jews need to police themselves and not request or even discuss it outside of our country and people. Want to do something about it, go to Israel. Talk to the Israeli government, talk to the people you disagree with, talk to Israelis who do agree with you and police fellow Jews with other Jews and Israelis. Leave the international 'community' out of this. Why do Jews invite people who hate them to comment and boycott and attack?
You sound as if we're talking about the goings on in the shtetl of Anatevka that nobody cares about if you don't talk about it, rather than about Israel, the country that - whether you like it or not - is under constant obsessive scrutiny by the international community.
I think that we have to understand Israel and our discussions about Israel with an eye - both eyes - to the reality that Israel has been singled out as distinct from all other sovereign countries. We need to talk and act accordingly. I wish it could be as you say.
It's like we have been arrested - anything you say can and will be used against us. Yes, everybody else is speeding, but we are the only people arrested.
Using public forums to make changes to the Israeli government and other internal issues appears to be suicide - look around. It isn't working, anyway, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. The Israelis will take you much more seriously if you are a citizen and take your issues directly to them. Not to the public forum.
I believe you're unwittingly becoming a participant in anti-Israel propaganda. Israeli settlers are punished just like anyone else who breaks the law. They are arrested for crimes and for their preparations. There's a Shin Bet department that deals with Jewish settlements, and it's no less strict than the others.
The Israeli army is in Judea and Samaria not to "protect settlers," but to maintain order and acts against any violation.
Yes, you're right, criticism is necessary, but what you wrote isn't criticism. It's disinformation and demonization. You've generalized all Israeli settlers and portrayed the IDF as "protectors of crime." This isn't criticism; it's (perhaps in your case, unconsciously, and influenced by myths and cliches) bias.
Unfortunately, I'm factually right. No disinformation, no demonization. I did specify that the violent settlers are but a small part of the West Bank Jewish population. I know from eyewitness testimony how they terrorize Palestinian farmers and Israelis that come to interpose themselves, with drone surveillance and by coming into the orchards, pointing rifles at them, and shooting in the air. This is done in direct view of IDF soldiers who, when asked why they don't remove the settlers, just shrug. In other instances, when the army is absent, they brutally beat them up with sticks, and no efforts are made to find the perpetrators.
The Shin Beth Dept that deals with Jewish extremists has been considerably weakened by interference by Ben Gvir and his acolytes. In fact Ben Gvir has long claimed that there is no such thing as "Jewish terrorists" and has reportedly intervened with the prison service to ameliorate the conditions of imprisoned Jewish terrorists and worsen the conditions of the Arab ones. This is our reality also.
If we demand from Israel haters to stop lying, to stop spreading blood libels, then we can't lie either.
There is no defined borders of Israel, they’re demonstrably 100% dependent on US backing and thusly not sovereign at all (they’ve bribed and blackmailed their way and that is ending) and they have no Constitution as a basis for laws. So you’re demonstrably incorrect and Israel is a fraud state, actually, and pretty universally reviled.
You conflate antisemitism, bigotry toward Jews as a race they’re so obviously not, with criticism of a fanatical genocidal ideology that is the core of an ancient tribal religion in Judaism. You’re conflating critique of texts and ideas, things people can adopt or eschew freely with hatred of perceived innate qualities in people. You and antisemites are one in the same, feeding off each other’s vileness in a self perpetuating shit wheel that is being scrapped as one of humanity’s biggest disgraces. You’re making the most bad faith argument you can make.
Exactly. 💯. I don't even want to repeat any of these phrases to discuss them. There is a Land of Israel. There is a sovereign government. There is an army. There are laws and the Israelis do their best to run a good country.
I would add that discussion about the holocaust in Europe is a discussion among Jews, not a talking point with others. It happened and we will go forward. We have had other holocausts in our history. Other peoples have gone through similar. It seems to be a feature of humanity, not a bug. If we want to live good lives, then it's best to be productive in the present and not obsess about the past or weaponize it. Nobody cares about other people's problems or histories, other than to weaponize it against someone. And we don't want or need anyone's pity, as Menachem Begin said and the author quoted.
Great essay Joshua. Keep up the good work. As I wrote in a recent post, "The Jewish story, properly told, isn’t about what was done to us — it’s about what we’ve built since. And until we teach that story — unapologetically, proudly, relentlessly — we’ll keep ceding moral ground to those who mistake destruction for justice." https://jewnewsreview.substack.com/p/the-jew-news-review-november-1-2025
When MSM refuse to call Hamas 'terrorists', it's unsurprising they refer to 'settlers' as 'violent'. They just can't help their antisemitism; it's intrinsic to their whole makeup. It's in their DNA.
Add too that Israel is a massive bulwark against the Totalitarianism of the re-emergent Nazis and the Communist Left, and the Extremists of both sides know this. Thus, we have earned our keep amongst the righteous spectrum of Nations.
Another wonderful article from you Joshua ,with the arguments laid out so beautifully like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Thank you .
Perfectly stated, as usual. I don’t need anyone to tell me “Israel has a right to exist.”
Nice article Joshua. Bit long. Bit defensive. No worries. Jews have been discriminated against forever. Being defensive to justify your existance is probably in your genes. Next time write something which signals power, we are here, not going away, and combine it with a warning that if you attack us again we will annex your land. Thankyou.
I agree most of what you wrote, except the issue of "violent settlers": some really are violent, and although they constitute but a small part of the Israeli citizens in the West bank, they enjoy the protection of the IDF as Israelis on the one hand, but the IDF does not stop them from attacking Palestinians on the other. So it is disingenuous to compare it to any other country that has its violent elements: here, they carry out their depredations under the protection of the Israeli army, making the country complicit. And that is because Israel does have, in fact, a "far-right government" - or at least one where the far-right gives the tone.
So while much of the hatred directed at Israel is just a new form of Jew-hatred, one must acknowledge that some of the criticism is justified, and could - and should - be honestly addressed.
I agree, Danny, but actually the Left commentariat do not actually care for the Arabs of The West Bank. The issue is just another stick by the Antisemitic Left to beat Israel with. How do we know? Because these same voices are silent in their moral tone about the Horrors when it comes to the whole of the rest of The Middle East, like Sudan and Yemen and Iran.
I agree that coming from Israel's opponents, criticism of settler violence is disingenuous. That's on them. But some people who level this criticism are strong supporters of Israel. And they are right.
In any case, this isn't even a question of external criticism. That violent Israelis commit violence unchecked by the authorities - that's on us.
The Cantonisation of The West Bank which is coming, will acknowledge the rights of The Arabs of Judea and Samaria to the farmland they presently work, plus the Arab towns of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron, and parts (and only parts) of East Jerusalem. The reason they cannot have a state is that this would give rights to both an army and to borders to traffic arms across, and most Arabs support Islamist Terrorism dressed up as self-defence.
Jews need to police themselves and not request or even discuss it outside of our country and people. Want to do something about it, go to Israel. Talk to the Israeli government, talk to the people you disagree with, talk to Israelis who do agree with you and police fellow Jews with other Jews and Israelis. Leave the international 'community' out of this. Why do Jews invite people who hate them to comment and boycott and attack?
You sound as if we're talking about the goings on in the shtetl of Anatevka that nobody cares about if you don't talk about it, rather than about Israel, the country that - whether you like it or not - is under constant obsessive scrutiny by the international community.
I think that we have to understand Israel and our discussions about Israel with an eye - both eyes - to the reality that Israel has been singled out as distinct from all other sovereign countries. We need to talk and act accordingly. I wish it could be as you say.
It's like we have been arrested - anything you say can and will be used against us. Yes, everybody else is speeding, but we are the only people arrested.
Using public forums to make changes to the Israeli government and other internal issues appears to be suicide - look around. It isn't working, anyway, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. The Israelis will take you much more seriously if you are a citizen and take your issues directly to them. Not to the public forum.
I believe you're unwittingly becoming a participant in anti-Israel propaganda. Israeli settlers are punished just like anyone else who breaks the law. They are arrested for crimes and for their preparations. There's a Shin Bet department that deals with Jewish settlements, and it's no less strict than the others.
The Israeli army is in Judea and Samaria not to "protect settlers," but to maintain order and acts against any violation.
Yes, you're right, criticism is necessary, but what you wrote isn't criticism. It's disinformation and demonization. You've generalized all Israeli settlers and portrayed the IDF as "protectors of crime." This isn't criticism; it's (perhaps in your case, unconsciously, and influenced by myths and cliches) bias.
Unfortunately, I'm factually right. No disinformation, no demonization. I did specify that the violent settlers are but a small part of the West Bank Jewish population. I know from eyewitness testimony how they terrorize Palestinian farmers and Israelis that come to interpose themselves, with drone surveillance and by coming into the orchards, pointing rifles at them, and shooting in the air. This is done in direct view of IDF soldiers who, when asked why they don't remove the settlers, just shrug. In other instances, when the army is absent, they brutally beat them up with sticks, and no efforts are made to find the perpetrators.
The Shin Beth Dept that deals with Jewish extremists has been considerably weakened by interference by Ben Gvir and his acolytes. In fact Ben Gvir has long claimed that there is no such thing as "Jewish terrorists" and has reportedly intervened with the prison service to ameliorate the conditions of imprisoned Jewish terrorists and worsen the conditions of the Arab ones. This is our reality also.
If we demand from Israel haters to stop lying, to stop spreading blood libels, then we can't lie either.
GOD BLESS ISRAEL AND ITS PEOPLE
There is no defined borders of Israel, they’re demonstrably 100% dependent on US backing and thusly not sovereign at all (they’ve bribed and blackmailed their way and that is ending) and they have no Constitution as a basis for laws. So you’re demonstrably incorrect and Israel is a fraud state, actually, and pretty universally reviled.
You conflate antisemitism, bigotry toward Jews as a race they’re so obviously not, with criticism of a fanatical genocidal ideology that is the core of an ancient tribal religion in Judaism. You’re conflating critique of texts and ideas, things people can adopt or eschew freely with hatred of perceived innate qualities in people. You and antisemites are one in the same, feeding off each other’s vileness in a self perpetuating shit wheel that is being scrapped as one of humanity’s biggest disgraces. You’re making the most bad faith argument you can make.
Idjit
Exactly. 💯. I don't even want to repeat any of these phrases to discuss them. There is a Land of Israel. There is a sovereign government. There is an army. There are laws and the Israelis do their best to run a good country.
I would add that discussion about the holocaust in Europe is a discussion among Jews, not a talking point with others. It happened and we will go forward. We have had other holocausts in our history. Other peoples have gone through similar. It seems to be a feature of humanity, not a bug. If we want to live good lives, then it's best to be productive in the present and not obsess about the past or weaponize it. Nobody cares about other people's problems or histories, other than to weaponize it against someone. And we don't want or need anyone's pity, as Menachem Begin said and the author quoted.