4 Comments

I have a question. Love the podcast and typically your listeners have better answers! So I listened to this and the topic of settlements and the riots in Gaza were briefly touched on, with Mr. Oren saying he couldn’t defend everything Israel does (paraphrasing). My question is, are the settlements and the various events that have happened in and around those settlements NOT the major factor in the conflict between Israel and Palestine? That’s how it reads from a layperson/American perspective. And it’s why I personally can’t get on board with supporting Israel in all this. So just a very plain question: if Israel really wants peace, why can’t they stop the settlements, and why was that part skipped over in the conversation today? Or what has America got wrong on the question of the settlements?

Expand full comment

What Americans and the West in general gets wrong is the idea that this is a conflict about land. There were no "settlements" when the war broke out in 1967, there were no "settlements" when war broke out in 1948.

This is a religious war, Islam will never accept a Jewish state in land once ruled by Islam. Western politicians have no answer to that so they've created a false narrative about land so they can be seen as "trying to do something".

Expand full comment

Mr. Oren is a fascinating conflict analyst. I shared on my public feed at Facebook. Any nation that faces such attack as 300+ missiles (I know, some were drones and also a 3rd type of projectile) has the right to retaliate as it was an act of war. I read that some young Google employees have demanded that Google not do business with Israel. Google leadership has not responded, but should respond with pink slips. I am optimistic.

Expand full comment

I hadn't realized that "settler riots on the West Bank" are an "Israeli 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺".

Expand full comment