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HomeRead, Watch, ListenIsrael
Israel Hamas WarAnalysisIsrael

This and this: holding contradictory truths

If you have a clear and internally consistent view of the Israel-Hamas conflict, then you don't understand it.
Tom Ben-David
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Head with different coloured cogs

We must contront the contradictory truths of Israel and the Palestinians (Illustration: TJI)

Published: 5 June 2025

Last updated: 12 June 2025

Judaism has a long tradition of understanding cognitive dissonance. When the rabbis disagree, the Talmud sometimes concludes “This and this are the words of the living God.”

In the context of the Israel-Hamas War, there are many truths that exist all at once.

The humanitarian situation is Gaza is bad and is deteriorating rapidly, and people — many of them innocent people — are suffering.

And, under international law, Israel is not obliged to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.

And Israel should provide aid despite having no obligation.

And humanitarian organizations are vehemently opposed to Israel being involved in aid distribution.

And much of the aid entering Gaza is being looted by Hamas and wouldn’t make it to the civilians who actually need it.

And providing more aid would lower its prices and allow more aid to get to civilians.

And supplying more aid would enrich and empower Hamas and merchant warlords in Gaza, enabling them to sustain the war for longer.

And the hostages must come home.

And Hamas won’t release the hostages without pressure on Gaza.

And continued fighting will further endanger the lives of the hostages.

And Netanyahu’s treatment of the hostage families is callous and inexcusable.

And many of those outraged by Netanyahu don’t care about the hostages.

And people in Gaza are still suffering.

And people around the world are using Gazan suffering as an excuse to spread antisemitism.

And, Hamas is comprised of genocidal maniacs committed to killing Jews and destroying Israel.

And Itamar Ben Gvir, who sits in the Israeli government, is also a genocidal maniac, convicted of supporting terrorism by Israel itself.

And, Ben Gvir doesn’t represent the average Israeli.

And, Hamas doesn't represent the average Palestinian.

And, no child anywhere is responsible for the adults who claim to represent them.

And Hamas is responsible for their wellbeing of Gazans and doesn’t care about the children living through a horrendous humanitarian disaster.

And, as a whole, the Israeli establishment does care about protecting Israeli civilians from external attacks.

And the current Israeli government doesn’t care about protecting Israeli civilians as shown by the recently-revealed IDF memo placing the release of the hostages as the least important war aim.

And Israel’s behaviour in Gaza is providing ammunition to every antisemite out there.

And antisemitism is never the fault of the Jew: it’s the fault of the antisemite.

And the Netanyahu government enabled October 7 by diverting resources from protecting the Gaza envelope to protecting settlement expansion in the West Bank.

And Netanyahu refuses to take responsibility for October 7.

And, even if elections were called today there would not be a new government in Israel until 2026.

And Hamas cannot remain in power in Gaza.

And there’s no good alternative.

And it’s impossible to eliminate every single Hamas operative.

And the only possible solution is two states because neither Israelis nor Palestinians are going anywhere.

And most people on all sides of this conflict are disillusioned by the two state solution.

And with the current leadership, an independent Palestinian State would be divert all state resources to launch annihilationist attacks against Israel.

And the anti-Islamist Sunni Arab coalition could do more to facilitate peace, both financially and diplomatically.

And it’s not their responsibility and they don’t want the headache.

And the current Israeli government is descending into an equivalent of Jewish Islamism.

And Israelis are out in the streets by the tens of thousands protesting against this government and for an end to the war.

And Israel is a democratic society that allows for protest and free speech.

And, the leaders of any protest movement in Gaza are lynched, tortured, and killed by Hamas.

And criticizing the Israeli government and abhorring the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza isn’t antisemitic.

And many people doing so with little knowledge that they recycle ancient antisemitism.

And the western left is a problem because antisemitism related to Israel is becoming mainstream.

And the western right is a problem because it’s infected with neo-Nazi sympathisers, particularly in the Trump administration.

And the hostages released in January have Trump to thank.

And Trump’s deal with the Houthis and talks with Iran and his flippant comments on the number of dead hostages endanger those still in captivity and all Israelis.

And antisemitism in the West is reaching dangerous levels.

And using antisemitism as a cheap excuse to break academia is reprehensible.

And Western academia has capitulated to foreign money and lazy monoculture that subverts true academic learning while bloating administrations, robbing students, and ignoring faculty in a way that cheapens the institution.

And Western academia leads the world in vital scientific research that is absolutely necessary for the advancement and survival of civilization, and this research should not be defunded.

And the regime in Iran is still one of the primary linchpins for solving much of the conflicts in the Middle East today.

And we ought to take seriously the Mullahs and the Islamists and the pan-Arabists and their genuine sympathizers and useful idiots in the West when they call for our demise, because appeasement never works.

And the hostages are still languishing in Gaza, starving, in shackles, in airless tunnels for 580 days and counting.

And the humanitarian situation in Gaza is still deteriorating.

And, nobody has a solution, that accounts for everything; for this and this.

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About the author

Tom Ben-David

Tom Ben-David

Dr. Tom Ben-David is an Israeli technologist and engineer living in the United States who engages in advocacy and community organizing within the Jewish LGBTQ+ community in San Diego, CA.