At 6:29 a.m (Israel time) October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel that resulted in the worst mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. More than 1200 Israeli were killed and 251 kidnapped and taken back to Gaza as hostages. Among the dead and kidnapped were babies, young children, parents of young children (murdered in front of their children) and elderly innocents. (May their memories all be for a blessing זיכרונם לברכה (zikhronam livrakha).
Of course, nothing should distract from the primary responsibility of the terror group Hamas (that controlled and terrorized the lives of innocent civilians in Gaza) for everything that followed. There is no doubt that the intent of Hamas was to provoke the Israelis into a violent reaction which would result in the death of many Palestinian civilians (they built tunnels underneath schools and hospitals and residence structures for their fighters without any bomb shelters to protect civilians). In time they got the response that they wanted.
Yet there remain other questions of responsibility that need to be answered.
Number One of course is the intelligence failure by the Netanyahu government. This will presumably be addressed after the upcoming Israeli election by a high-level independent investigation that Netanyahu has refused (for obvious reasons) to approve for the past three years.
Number Two (the numbering is irrelevant) is the response of the world (primarily the Western governments that are now implementing “boycotts” of Israeli goods. I remember being very impressed with the tone of President Biden’s initial response “I come to Israel with a single message. You are not alone. You are not alone. As long as the United States stands – and we will stand forever – we will not let you ever be alone. “
If only that were true…. There are many currently ascendent in the Democratic Party in the United States who now openly advocate for leaving Israel alone and isolated and perhaps vulnerable to future Hamas like attacks. I wonder though if anything would have been different if the United Nations had been able to deliver an ultimatum to Hamas “Release the hostages immediately and surrender” or else face the wrath of the world community. Of course, such a resolution could not and would not have passed the UN Security Council or the General Assembly.
Number Three (perhaps most importantly) was the response of much of what is now known as “the left” and that proclaims themselves to be advocates for justice for Palestinians. Immediately following the October 7 massacre there were demonstrations in Time Square celebrating the massacre (YES CELEBRATING) sponsored by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America chapter (NYC-DSA) that was attended by soon to be Democratic Member of Congress Darializa Avila Chevalier. Chants of “Globalize the Intifida” and “From the River to the Sea” were prevalent and (remarkably) they began to label the not yet initiated Israeli retaliation against Hamas as a “Genocide” with a call to cut off all US aid to Israel. Soon after those similar demonstrations began around the country primarily on college campuses. In one instance that I recall, a Cornell history professor gave a speech in which he described being “exhilarated” by Hamas’s attack on Israel. “Encampment” sprung up almost immediately on campuses around the country “DEMANDING” University divestment from any connection with Israel and creating hostile environments that left Jewish students isolated and threatened. It got worse. It was almost as if the anti-Israel propaganda campaign was already prepared and funded before the October 7 massacre was initiate.
But imagine if instead, real leftists (instead of Jew haters acting as pseudo-leftists) had instead organized mass demonstrations on campuses and in cities around the world calling on Hamas to release the hostages and surrender their control of Gaza. Many, if not most, of those who joined in the anti-Israel demonstrations were not themselves antisemites (when the demonstrations began) and did not really even understand the history of the conflict in the region or the offensive significance of the chants that became popular. It became popular to defend every anti-Israel demonstration (no matter how offensive) with the proclamation that “anti-Zionism is not the same as antisemitism” (which of course is literally true) but yet it became obvious as violent attacks against Jews around the world escalated that it was equally true that Anti-Zionism had become the more “socially acceptable way” to express antisemitism. Both statements were equally true. Not every anti-Zionist was an antisemite but soon every Jew hater became an anti-Zionist.
I remember one of my early conversations (shortly after October 7) with one of my children. Are you a zionist dad? What do you mean by “zionist” was my reply. The response “Everybody knows what a zionist is” As if that was true.
I myself soon identified as an October 7 Zionist. https://leftcoastview.com/i-am-an-october-7-zionist/
To me the process was very similar to the way that the Dreyfus affair in France in the 1890’s served as a catalyst for Theodore Herzel’s Zionism by shattering the belief that Jewish assimilation in Europe had ended the age-old scourge of antisemitism. Similarly in Germany the rise of Nazism contradicted the belief of many that finally the Jews had found a home and led directly to the creation of their homeland in Israel. I grew up comfortable in the United States (a baby boomer active in the New Left in the 1960’s and 70’s) believing that nothing like the holocaust would ever happen to Jews again because we were an accepted and integral part of this country (United States) of many immigrant.
In many ways the world is so very different today, three years after October 7, 2023. Personally, I am now an Oleh Chadash (עוֹלֶה חָדָשׁ) having immigrated to Israel in December 2025 and am preparing to vote in the upcoming Israeli elections.
Yahya Sinwar and most of the prior leadership of Hamas and direct perpetrators of the October 7 massacre are dead. I do not mourn any of their deaths. I am however deeply saddened by the death of countless innocent Palestinian civilians who were intentionally sacrificed by Sinwar and the initiators of this war and indirectly sacrificed by the naive and foolish pseudo leftists who repeated Hamas talking points and prolonged the war with their support of Hamas. Nobody will really ever be able to determine how many of the dead in Gaza were innocent civilians and how many were Hamas fighters and active supporters. Hopefully the world of honest people will someday accept that the claim that Israel committed a “genocide” was a propaganda lie initiated by Qatar. We may (hopefully) know what efforts Israel took to limit the number of civilian casualties and what mistakes in policy were made.
In Israel where there was once a literal majority of the country supporting a two-state solution that position is now an outlier. Whenever I talk with representatives of the small political party that still supports the creation of an Independent Palestinian state, I ask them how can they guarantee that a Hamas like organization will not take over such an independent state and they have no answer.
I still believe that Israel cannot continue to occupy the West Bank but do not know how we will get from here to an independent state until things change very dramatically in the minds of the Palestinians themselves. It may take another generation or even two before it can happen.
In the United States it has become almost required among progressive Democrats that they repeat the absurd (and slanderous) claim that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza. DSA supported candidates like Zohran Mamdani (now Mayor of New York City) and Abdul El-Sayed (Democratic nominee for US Senate from Michigan) as well as the previously mentioned Darializa Avila Chevalier (soon to be member of congress from New York’s 13 CD) and Melat Kiros (soon to be a member of congress from Colorado’s 1st CD) all won primaries fueled by antisemitism and currently express political positions questioning Israel’s right to exist. The soon to begin battle for the 2028 Democratic Presidential nomination will begin with an almost existential division on the right of Israel to exist.
Nobody on the left questioning Israel’s right to exist as a democratic Jewish nation, cares to answer the question of what will become of the almost 8 million Jews currently living in Israel if a Hamas type Palestinian movement ever takes over “from the river to the sea”. Hamas had plans for that possibility described in chilling detail. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-organized-confab-in-2021-to-plot-administration-of-liberated-palestine/
“The Jewish population of the newly formed state of Palestine would be treated according to their status: Fighters would be killed; those attempting to flee could be allowed to do so or detained and prosecuted for their crimes; and those who surrendered could be either integrated into the new state or given time to leave”
“However, special treatment was to be granted to “educated Jews and experts in the areas of medicine, engineering, technology, and civilian and military industry,” who were to be retained for some time so that they would not leave taking with them the knowledge they had acquired “while living in our land and enjoying its bounty.” (emphasis added)
I still don’t know what the ultimate path is to get from here to the acceptance in Israel of an Independent Palestinian state but somehow it makes me think about the answer to the old joke “how do porcupines make love” Very carefully. Look it up on the internet (not the joke but the very careful and methodical porcupine mating rituals. It must happen of course. Very carefully. Both sides must be ready for peace and very slowly and carefully demonstrate their willingness and intent.
It is the responsibility of those of us living in Israel and supporting Israel to do our best to create a society that is just and democratic and law abiding. Honestly, I do not think it is possible nor is it the responsibility of Israel to change the attitude of the Palestinians.
It is the responsibility of the Palestinians themselves and their true supporters (those who really want a better life for Palestinians) to advocate for the overthrow of Hamas’ governance of Gaza and an end to the ideology of questioning Israel’s right to exist.
As always – please feel free to share a link to this page and send me questions and comments by reply at adrchildlaw@hotmail.com