The Global Implications of the War in Gaza

To Dan Schueftan, the war between Israel and Hamas isn’t just a local conflict between a democratic nation that values life and an enemy willing to employ the obscenest cruelty, rather, he argues, a Hamas victory will lead to the revival of jihadism throughout the Middle East and show the forces of barbarism throughout the world that they can triumph. Schueftan puts forth several other forceful arguments in this conversation with Ido Aharoni: he contends that Israeli political polarization is vastly exaggerated; that the IDF policy of “quiet for quiet”—that is, not attacking terrorist groups when they refrain from attacking—is a failure; and that Israel must “continue the war until the destruction of Hamas.” (Video, 41 minutes.)