RSS
Israel and the Palestinians Can Find Peace; Here Is How
As the war in Gaza against Hamas rages on, and as we all recoil from the explosion of antisemitism and hate crimes against Jews and Jewish targets around the world, it is vital for us to consider what happens “the day after” the war is over.
So much water has passed under the bridge — and it continues to flow in a raging torrent — that it is almost impossible to think what the world will look like once the war ends. But end it will, and at that point, resolving the Palestinian issue will come into sharp focus, not just in Gaza but in Judea and Samaria as well.
In 2014, researchers uncovered a key reason why seemingly intractable disputes, like long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, seem impossible to resolve. It turns out that the human brain is wired in a way that skews how we perceive “us” versus “them.”
We are all inclined to believe that our group’s actions are motivated by love and positivity towards our own, while we view the other side’s actions against us as driven by negativity and hate. This simple yet profound cognitive bias fuels ongoing conflicts, making us less willing to negotiate a solution or to see any way out of the endless animosity that dominates the present.
One of the study’s authors, Professor Jeremy Ginges of The London School of Economics, explains it thus: “Hatred is an intractable emotion — it’s not like anger. If I’m angry at you, I’m angry at something that you’ve done. But if I hate you, I hate you as a person. There’s something that’s unchangeable about that.”
In other words, anger can be — and often is — legitimate; hatred is not just illegitimate, it is thoroughly unproductive.
The study was based on interviews with 995 Israelis and 1,266 Palestinians. The interviews uncovered a significant bias in how each group perceives their own and the other’s motives for aggression. Israelis explained their support for military actions against Gaza as being an expression of their love for Israel as opposed to hatred for Palestinians.
Remarkably, Palestinians justified their support for violence against Israel and Jews as being the result of their affection for Palestine rather than any animosity towards Israel. Most notably, both groups believed that the other side was primarily motivated by hate.
The current war has offered up ample examples of this stubborn phenomenon. Take this week’s IDF siege and takeover of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. On the Israeli side, this controversial action was vigorously defended as a necessary measure for national security, totally rooted in Israeli love for their homeland as opposed to hatred for Gazans.
Conversely, the other side has presented Israel’s targeting of Al Shifa as an outright act of aggression, driven purely by hatred of Palestinians. This mirror image misperception is precisely what was highlighted by Dr. Ginges’ research.
But here’s a twist: a parallel study carried out by the research team demonstrated that when people are rewarded for being accurate in their judgments about the other side, the “motive bias” diminishes.
This discovery isn’t just a fascinating peek into our brains — it’s a potential game-changer for resolving all conflicts that seem unsolvable. In terms of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, if applied correctly, this method could be the key to a workable model of coexistence in the future.
If we can understand and address the “motive attribution” bias which leaves no room for cooperation, we might just find a way to bridge the divide that has long seemed unbridgeable.
What is certain is this: no “peace process” or indeed any other kind of imposed solution will ever create the conditions where either side will trust the other. For decades, all we have heard is that the solution to the conflict is a “two-state solution.”
President Biden — who has been steadfast in his support for Israel during the current war – said on Wednesday that “the endpoint of the Israel-Hamas conflict has to be a Palestinian state that is ‘real,’ existing alongside an Israeli one.” Without giving details, he added that he and his aides “have been negotiating with Arab nations on next steps.”
To say that such talk is premature misses the point entirely. At its core, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is based on competing narratives that leave scant room for coexistence, and, particularly on the Palestinian side — stoked by hate peddlers and promoters of violence as the only tool of self-identity and national pride — the portrayal of Jews as evil actors bent on genocide has led to the type of atrocities we saw on October 7th.
Tragically, money provided by the international community that should have been spent on creating leverage to reverse the effects of “motive attribution” among the Palestinian population was instead endlessly used to arm terrorists and fund those who thrive on violent mayhem.
Whatever the ultimate resolution turns out to be, it will need to be based on a solid foundation of reeducation, not only for Palestinians, but also for their useful-idiot supporters abroad — who prefer ripping down posters of kidnapped hostages to considering the pain of families suffering in uncertainty since their family members were abducted by Hamas.
Interestingly, this modern dilemma finds echoes in Parshat Toldot. The narrative of Esau and Jacob, two brothers embroiled in a struggle, offers timeless insights into conflict and perception. Esau never tried to understand his brother; instead, he perceived Jacob’s actions as deceitful and hostile, confirming his “motive attribution” bias and leading to deep-seated animosity.
Enraged, he vowed to kill his brother, forcing Jacob to flee. Years later they met up after Jacob returned to Canaan with his family and flocks — and it dawned on Esau, who originally intended to kill Jacob — that his brother had never hated him, and all he wanted was to live alongside him in peace and tranquility.
As we reflect on this lesson from Parshat Toldot while considering Dr. Ginges’ research, it is clear that no one should be embarking headlong on the unrealistic “two-state solution” journey. The path forward will only begin when Palestinians and their supporters recognize and then overcome their deep-seated biases against Israel and Jews, much like Esau eventually realized that Jacob was not out to get him.
Only through achieving such understanding, and finding the ability to see beyond entrenched narratives of hate, can there ever be a future where coexistence is not just a distant dream, but a tangible reality.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post Israel and the Palestinians Can Find Peace; Here Is How first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says
FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday the agency was aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
While he did not provide further details, Patel said in a social media post: “Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”
According to CBS News, which cited witnesses at the scene, a suspect attacked people with Molotov cocktails who were participating in a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack in the city involving several victims. It has not released further details but a press conference was expected at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (2200 GMT).
The attack comes just weeks after a Chicago-born man was arrested in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
The post FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
The post Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login