The Folly of Avoiding Escalation at All Costs
Israel must find a way out of the war of attrition Iran is waging.
August 6, 2024
“The most Hungarian of martial arts.”
I have to confess that I’m not someone who pays a lot of attention to the Olympics, but, while catching up on other Middle East news, I happened upon a story about Yuval Freilich, the first male Israeli fencer to qualify for the games in the épée. A winner of the European championship, Freilich ended up losing to a lower-ranked opponent. (Those seeking to take pride in Jewish athletic prowess can look instead to the two Jewish fencers on the four-member, gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s fencing team.) But this put me in mind of the 1999 movie Sunshine, about a fictional Hungarian Jewish family named Sors. Its central character, played by Ralph Fiennes, is a fencing champion. The eminent historian Istvan Deak wrote in a fascinating review:
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Login or SubscribeIsrael must find a way out of the war of attrition Iran is waging.
And what the U.S. can do about it.
No, not that one.
Digging up the holy city.
“The most Hungarian of martial arts.”