Exploring the Failures in the Mideast

To the Editor:

Re “Biden’s Moral Failure on Israel,” by Peter Beinart (Opinion guest essay, Oct. 11):

There is much about Israel’s behavior toward Arabs to be condemned, but the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023, cannot be ignored. Israel had a right to retaliate, and the fact that Hamas refuses to stop fighting gives Israel the right to continue fighting.

Hamas could have just stopped sending missiles toward Israel but it has not. Hamas killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7. The nightmare of Gaza was started by Hamas and can be finished by Hamas.

The nightmare of the West Bank is another story, and there is much blame to be placed on Israel. Until the Israeli government is changed there will be no solution.

The politics of the United States is in the middle of this problem, and there is no easy way to deal with it. I believe that if Kamala Harris wins she will be able to be more forceful with the Israelis, but unfortunately, she will have no ability to force Hamas to come to the table.

President Biden has not been able to take Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, out of the picture. Only the Israelis can do that, and perhaps once our election is over, they might be able to effect a solution.

Leonard Zivitz
Fullerton, Calif.

To the Editor:

I am so grateful to Peter Beinart for calling out President Biden’s failure to stand in the way of the sprawling, ethnocentric ambitions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.