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The war in Gaza is over. The battle to stop Israel from becoming Sparta is just beginning.
Now that the war in Gaza appears to have come to an end and Hamas has returned the remaining 20 living hostages to their families, we can fully expect Israel’s enemies and other critics across the globe to turn their attention to the declared intention of some of the extremist members of the Israeli government to formally make the West Bank part of a greater Israel that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.
Except, of course, that President Donald Trump seems to have preemptively put the kibosh on any such scenario. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” Trump told reporters two weeks ago. “It’s not going to happen.”
Trump realizes and has said out loud the simple truth that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his acolytes stubbornly ignore: Israel cannot endure in the long run by permanently subjugating the Palestinian population of the territories it has held since the June 1967 Six-Day War. More importantly, as Trump told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation this past week, “Israel can’t fight the world.” Or as he told Netanyahu during his speech to the Knesset on Monday, “Be a little bit nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore. … You don’t want to have to go through this again.”
An Israeli – or Jewish – hegemony over what was once the biblical land of Judea and in due course morphed into pre-1948 British Mandatory Palestine is not and has never been the goal of mainstream Zionism as conceived and understood by the likes of Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion and Louis D. Brandeis. But with the concept and essence of Zionism widely misunderstood or deliberately mischaracterized, it is more critical than ever to place the broad and multifaceted nature of this ethnocultural ideology in its accurate historical context.
We know whereof we speak. We are both unabashed Zionists who unequivocally identify with the State of Israel even though we radically disagree with the extremist ideology and many of the policies of its present government. One of us is a former national president of the Labor Zionist Alliance and past member of the Zionist General Council which oversees the work and activities of the World Zionist Organization. The other has been a visiting professor at both the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, and maintains ongoing relations with both. We are long-time supporters of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. One of us met with Yasser Arafat and senior leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization together with four other American Jews in Stockholm in December 1988, resulting in the PLO’s first public acceptance of Israel as a state in the Middle East. The other is presently writing a book on the early socialist founders of modern Israel.
Trump’s above-quoted comments regarding the West Bank came against the backdrop of an earlier pronouncement by Netanyahu in which he resurrected the old meme of Israel as latter-day Sparta. Acknowledging Israel’s ever-increasing political and economic isolation in consequence of what then still seemed as his government’s seemingly interminable war in Gaza, Netanyahu declared that his country “will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics” and become a “super-Sparta.”
Had Netanyahu’s reference been to Plutarch’s account of the ancient Greek polity — a society highly unified, disciplined, and militarily formidable when existentially threatened – then perhaps, fair enough. The problem with his analogy, however, is what it leaves out: First, that Sparta’s hegemonic dominance was decisively and permanently ended by its catastrophic defeat at the hands of a far superior Theban army at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE. And, more importantly, second, that Israel was meant by its socialist founders to emulate Athens more than Sparta, and that most of its population longs to return to this “Athenian normal” even as its current leaders try to force it into a Sparta-only straight-jacket.
There are, in short, two conflicting contemporary visions of Israel that can, when taken in “absolutist” fashion, distort understandings of both the Athenian and the Spartan aspects of today’s Israel. Peace, progress and prosperity await both refinement and synthesis of both visions.
The first vision, part of which was at the core of the Labor-Zionist-guided establishment of Israel under U.N. auspices in 1948, is of a democratic polity rooted in not only the quintessentially Jewish values of justice and social solidarity but also, equally important, a Jeffersonian-republican model of social democracy pursuant to which religiously and ethnically diverse groups coexist and co-govern as a matter of course.
This vision requires updating in one subtle respect to stay true to the Israel-as-Athens picture: namely, by supplementing the largely pastoral-agricultural imaginary of Israel’s primarily kibbutznik Labor-Zionist founders (not to mention of Jefferson himself) with a now-fuller and more productively-diversified picture of the Israel now widely called, among tech visionaries and others, the “Startup Nation.” This we must do if we are to understand both the motivations and, indeed, the promise of the Abraham Accords with their vision of a vibrantly revived Mediterranean-Levantine civilization the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the days of the ancient Phoenicians.
The second, borderline-apocalyptic vision of Israel now dominant in today’s Netanyahu-led Israel government is that of a fundamentalist Jewish hegemony over the entire biblical territory that encompasses not only Israel but the West Bank as well – “From the River to the Sea for Jews and Jews Only,” as it were. This is the pseudo-messianic model that Netanyahu and the shots-calling extremist far right members of his government are working feverishly and openly to bring about at the expense of Israel’s Jewish and non-Jewish citizens alike — not to mention its neighbors, its standing in the international community, and even the interests of Jews across the globe.
This vision requires far more radical revision to do justice to a plausible — and indeed desirable — Spartan comparison than does the original Labor-Zionist vision to do justice to a plausible Athenian comparison. Indeed, an accurate Spartan vision would have to be as Jeffersonian as the Athenian model: It would be that of a republic of citizen-soldiers able to mobilize on short notice, “Minute Man” style, when threatened, but otherwise going about the business of producing, inventing, arguing (these are Israelis, after all), and governing under the rule of law just as the ancient Israelite leaders were anointed only on condition that they rule under then-Hebrew law.
Happily, there are hundreds of thousands of Israelis who not only reject the Netanyahu government and its (distorted) “Super-Sparta” policies, but also have consistently taken to the streets against it since long before Hamas’ terrorist savagery on Oct. 7, 2023. These Israelis have sought to block Netanyahu’s attempt to eviscerate their country’s independent judicial system. They are the ones who called consistently for the ceasefire in Gaza that has now been reached and that will hopefully result in a pathway to a viable Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. And they are among those whom, alas, the likes of Hollywood actors Javier Bardem, Emma Stone,and Hannah Einbinder seek to boycott.
Israel’s aforesaid enemies, for whom a putative “anti-Zionism” they do not begin to comprehend or deliberately distort is an article of blind and blinded faith, seem either cognitively unable or perversely unwilling to distinguish between anything-but-Athenian neo-fascists like Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who want to destroy Israel’s democracy on the one hand, and the likes of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and opposition leader (and former prime minister) Yair Lapid, among others — who work to preserve that democracy — on the other hand. And in his heart of hearts, we fear, Netanyahu desperately wants the world to see only the former and never the latter.
Nahum Goldmann, then president of both the World Zionist Organization and the World Jewish Congress, pointedly observed, in the wake of Israel’s June 1967 “Six-Day War,” that Israel cannot prevail exclusively as “the Sparta of the Middle East.” He was right. Israel must be both Athens and Sparta — and it must be the actual, not the children’s book, version of both. Netanyahu does not seem to “get” this. Nor, sadly, do some of those who support New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who in endorsing a “global intifada” are, wittingly or otherwise, effectively calling for the elimination of Israel altogether and thereby perpetuating Netanyahu’s comic-book Sparta government with all the apocalyptic horrors that this entails.
The road ahead will not be easy even after the Gaza war is in the rearview mirror and it will not be short, but if there is to be any hope for the future, the leaders of both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must embark on it by recognizing each other’s humanity and seeking to emulate Athens more and Sparta less.
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Hamas Uses Sydney Terror Attack to Reaffirm Its Doctrine of Killing Jews Worldwide
A Palestinian man points a weapon in the air after it was announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, in the central Gaza Strip, October 9. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Following Sunday’s terror attack in Sydney where Muslim terrorists murdered at least 15 people and wounded 29 others, Hamas’ official television channel, Al-Aqsa TV, published a post seeking to legitimize the killing of one of the victims, Rabbi Eli Schlanger.
The post emphasized that Rabbi Schlanger had traveled to Israel in October 2023 and met with Israeli soldiers to show support following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. Al-Aqsa TV published photos of the rabbi with Israeli soldiers, portraying this act of solidarity as evidence that he had “assisted” Israel in what Hamas calls a “war of annihilation.”
Posted text:“Pictures published on the pages of settlers of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an emissary of the Chabad Movement who was killed [on Dec. 14, 2025] in an attack on a Jewish [Hanukkah] celebration in Sydney at a time when he was meeting with soldiers from the occupation [i.e., Israeli] army in order to assist them in the war of annihilation.”
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Telegram channel, Dec. 14, 2025]
Under this framework, Hamas portrays a Jewish religious leader attending a holiday celebration in Australia as a legitimate target because he once expressed solidarity with Israelis after October 7.
Hamas, however, does not need a military connection, political activity, or personal responsibility to legitimize the killing of Jews by Muslims.
The claim that Rabbi Eli Schlanger met with Israeli soldiers is merely a post-hoc rationalization, designed to disguise Hamas’ core belief that Jews must be killed because they are guilty of the crime of being Jews.
In one of its music videos calling for Palestinians to murder Jews, Hamas published this poster with the words: “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah:”
This principle is also enshrined explicitly in its charter — and it defines how Hamas views Jewish civilians and acts of terror against Jews everywhere.
Article 7 of the Hamas Charter presents this as a divine command, quoting an Islamic hadith:
The time (of Resurrection) will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me—come and kill him!’
[Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6985]
This is not a call to fight Israelis. It is not a reference to soldiers. The target is Jews as Jews, wherever they are.
What happened in Sydney was a direct application of Hamas’ ideology.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.
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Australian authorities confirm that Bondi Beach attackers were affiliated with Islamic State terror group
(JTA) — The father-and-son duo who killed 15 people during an attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday were motivated by “Islamic State ideology,” Australian authorities have confirmed.
Australian media had reported on Monday that the country’s intelligence service had previously investigated Naveed Akram, the son, over his ties to members of an Islamic State cell in Sydney.
On Tuesday, officials confirmed the account and revealed that both Naveed Akram and his father Sajid spent most of November in a region of the Philippines where the Islamic State maintains a stronghold. Officials believe the pair received military training there, though they would not say whether the trip had alarmed security officials at the time.
“It would appear that there is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organization, by ISIS,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference on Tuesday. He confirmed that Islamic State flags had been found in Naveed Akram’s car, abandoned at the scene of the shooting.
The revelations complicate the narrative that emerged immediately after the attack connecting it to Australia’s recent pro-Palestinian protest movement, which has at times featured antisemitic displays and attacks on Jewish sites.
But the Islamic State and Hamas, the leading Palestinian liberation organization whose attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war in Gaza, have historically been at odds, with the Sunni Islamic State openly viewing Hamas as insufficiently Islamic and an avatar of Iran and Shia Islam.
The Islamic State is a decades-old terrorist group that for a time acted as al-Qaeda’s affiliate and promotes Islamic fundamentalism; its enemy, broadly speaking, is the West and its targets have ranged from Christian churches to concerts to public festivities. Last year, an Islamic State-inspired operative killed 14 people at a New Year’s street party in New Orleans, and the group claimed credit for an attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 140.
Hamas, on the other hand, sought to impose some strictures of Islamic law in Gaza, which it has controlled, but allows a far more permissive religious and cultural environment. Its express goal is the elimination of Israel, and attacks staged by its affiliates abroad, typically supported by Iranian cells, have tended to target Jewish and Israeli sites — as has been the case in Australia, which recently expelled the Iranian ambassador over his country’s alleged ties to a string of attacks on synagogues.
In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli government promoted an equivalency between the two groups, citing their similarly brutal tactics. But some experts in terror movements balked at the comparison.
“The Islamic State literally views Hamas as apostates and IS supporters have been pillaging Hamas online since Saturday bc they are tools of Shia Iran and also don’t actually implement sharia [Islamic law] according to IS’s interpretations,” Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tweeted at the time.
But two years of war in Gaza that activated pro-Palestinian sentiment in many places around the world may have shifted the distinctions between the movements, according to terrorism experts, who also say the Islamic State has become more decentralized over time.
Rommel Banlaoi, a political scientist focused on terrorism in the Philippines, told the New York Times this week that a December 2023 attack on a Catholic mass there had marked a turning point for the group.
“Before, the focus was on creating an Islamic state,” Banlaoi said. “Now it has transformed to helping Muslims, Palestinians displaced by the Middle East violence.”
In part, the shift may reflect an opportunistic approach to the masses of people activated online in support of the Palestinian cause. A “Worldwide Threat Assessment” prepared by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in May said the Islamic State and al-Qaeda were showing signs of trying to capitalize on a new audience.
“Both groups continue to reference Israeli operations in Gaza to galvanize their global networks, recruit new members, generate revenue, and enable or inspire attacks against U.S., Israeli, Jewish, and European interests worldwide,” the report said.
An unnamed “senior Arab security official” told the Washington Post in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack that online activism tied to the Islamic State had surged during the war in Gaza. “They are exploiting the emotional outrage of Muslims and use reports of [Muslim] women and children being killed or allegedly starved as tools of recruitment,” the security official said.
Counterterrorism experts also believe that an increased focus on threats related directly to the war in Gaza could have undercut those trying to monitor and stop the Islamic State. Brett Holmgren, then a top counterterrorism official in the Biden administration, for example, said at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies last year that the Islamic State was regrouping “as governments shifted attention and resources to the conflict in Gaza.”
The Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the Bondi Beach attack, which was immediately condemned by the governments of Arab states that are supportive of the Palestinian cause. Authorities have not said whether the attackers left any record of their intentions or motivation beyond the Islamic State flags found in their car.
The post Australian authorities confirm that Bondi Beach attackers were affiliated with Islamic State terror group appeared first on The Forward.
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New footage emerges of Jewish man trying to disarm Bondi Beach shooters before massacre
(JTA) — An elderly Jewish man sought to stop the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attackers and was their first victim, according to dramatic dashcam footage that emerged on Tuesday.
Boris Gurman, 69, came upon the attackers as they exited their car and confronted them, according to the footage, which first appeared on Chinese social media after being posted by a Sydney resident and has been verified by Australian media as well as his family.
The grainy footage shows Gurman appearing to have been able to take hold of one gun before the attacker retrieves another weapon and shoots him. The footage shows Gurman, wearing a purple shirt, being thrown to the ground during the confrontation with the attackers, whom authorities have identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram.
Boris Gurman’s wife Sofia, 61, was also murdered at the outset of the attack, which ultimately killed 15 people who had gathered for a Chabad Hanukkah celebration on the beach.
The couple, immigrants to Australia, had been married for nearly 35 years and had retired from their jobs as a mechanic and postal worker.
“In the moments before their passing, Boris — with Sofia courageously beside him — attempted to intervene to protect others,” said a statement accompanying a crowdfunding campaign to benefit their family, including son Alex. “This act of bravery and selflessness reflects exactly who they were: people who instinctively chose to help, even at great personal risk. While nothing can lessen the pain of this loss, we feel immense pride in their courage and humanity.”
The footage adds new details to what is known about the massacre, which unfolded over more than 10 minutes on Sunday evening, the first night of Hanukkah.
A different man who tried and failed to stop the shooting by tackling and disarming one of the shooters, Ahmed al Ahmed, has been hailed for his heroism and had more than $1.3 million raised on his behalf, including from Jewish donors from around the world.
Meanwhile the daughter of Reuven Morrison, a Jewish man killed in the massacre, said he had been the one caught on camera throwing bricks at the shooter after al Ahmed’s intervention.
“If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist,” Sheina Gutnick told CBS News about her father. “There was no other way he would be taken from us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved most.”
The post New footage emerges of Jewish man trying to disarm Bondi Beach shooters before massacre appeared first on The Forward.