Its independence day today is no celebration because Hezbollah, a tool of fanatics in Iran, could bring catastrophe upon the “Paris of the Middle East.” It’s all because of a century-old mistake. There once was a non-Muslim ethnic group in the Middle East that could have formed its own small country with a solid majority and a Western-leaning culture. But it got a little greedy and opted for a slightly larger territory — where its majority was gone. …

A major falling out between America’s elite universities and the Jews (or is it with liberals in general?) The Oct. 7 massacre is claiming a victim its Hamas perpetrators may not even have anticipated: the special relationship between America’s Jews, and many Israelis, and elite universities in the United States. This could have major consequences. I am part of this community myself, having attended the University of Pennsylvania…

Hamas scuttled Palestinian statehood, oppresses millions of Gazans, and crushed regional hope for peace. Its Western backers are imbeciles. The progressives rallying for Hamas on US campuses are missing something simple: Supporting the Palestinians, whose cause is noble enough, obligates a rational person to not support Hamas. Hamas is the enemy of Palestine, and a genuine scourge to all humanity.

I have a dream: Saudi Arabia makes peace immediately to compel Israel to delay the Gaza invasion, and the whole region including Qatar unites against Hamas and offers Gaza another way forward The Oct. 7 Hamas massacre has begat two new fixations: Israel will launch a ground invasion of Gaza to remove Hamas from powerף and the expected peace deal with Saudi Arabia is on hold. …

Time for a new “conception” on Gaza TEL AVIV, Israel _ Israelis marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur war in recent weeks with much agonizing over the collapse of the ill-fated so-called “conception” that the Arabs would not dare attack, as Egypt and Syria did. …

Sexism and racism are perhaps more evil but ageism has the numbers: It’s the only prejudice that will affect everyone who does not die an early death I am an optimist, so I expect that humans will one day attain a higher plane, at which prejudice is unknown. Until then we’ll muddle through, scolding others while hoping to ourselves be prejudice-free. We probably hope in vain, for prejudice is everywhere. …

In the dark valley of his meeting with Netanyahu, Biden can do a world of good by uttering some simple words of truth President Biden’s long-delayed agreement to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20 has sent many Israelis into a tailspin: they fear the president will be Netanyahu’s useful idiot, unwittingly helping him destroy Israeli democracy. …

What if they clash? Which do you care about more? Sometimes our assumptions are so ingrained that we hardly notice they’re assumptions. So it is with the widespread conviction that freedom and democracy are natural parts of the same whole, or that repression and democracy are at odds. But that is not exactly so. …

America claims to celebrate diversity. France was to be French. Who’s right? As the immigration reform debate heats up in the United States ahead of the 2024 election, a binary caricature can be expected: One side wants to build a wall; the other loves diversity, without limit or question. …