It’s now been one year since the barbarities of October 7th, 2023. On the anniversary of those attacks, a great deal of ink will be spilled discussing the current state of play, the resilience of Israeli society, the global response to the war, and, of course, the people who were so callously murdered. Just as useful, however, is a discussion of another key takeaway: the many false notions surrounding the conflict that have been thoroughly debunked.
First is the idea that Iran can be counted as a potential partner for a peaceful Middle East. This has been a consistent policy of the American left since the Obama administration dramatically de-emphasized traditional security partnerships with Israel and the Gulf States in favor of trying to work with Tehran. The JCPOA nuclear deal, alongside the massive sanctions relief that came with it, was the centerpiece of this strategy – one that did not alter Iranian behavior for the better, reduce its support for regional terrorism, or forbid it from ballistic missile development. After the Trump administration’s maximum pressure strategy had put Tehran on the back foot, the Biden-Harris team returned to the Obama policy in full. This has proven a disastrous choice.
Iran has never repudiated its genocidal antisemitism or long-held goal of destroying the Jewish State. Instead, it has driven this regional conflict since October 7, activating its Axis of Resistance across seven fronts – Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran itself – to attack Israel. It has used its money gained via sanctions relief to fund this assault, as well as using its non-treaty-limited inventory to carry out the largest ballistic missile assault in history. Its proxies have harassed international shipping, launched drone attacks against US embassies, and killed American service members stationed in the region. Clearly, Tehran is no friend to American interests and no partner for peace. The past year has decisively proven that.
Next is the idea that a peaceful two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians is even possible; a grand vision of the left since the Oslo Accords in 1993 sparked the ‘peace process.’ From the Second Intifada and the ‘Pay for Slay’ program to the election of Hamas in Gaza, history has shown the idea of a two-state solution to be fundamentally unworkable. Still, the idea remains strong among the Western foreign policy elite. The year since October 7 should have totally dispelled these notions.
The Palestinian population largely supported the Hamas massacre and favor the terrorist group over its rivals. The actions taken by the Palestinian people, their leadership, and their backers abroad since October 7 have shown that there is no peace to be had between the two sides without a sea change in Palestinian national ideology. As of now, that national idea is primarily based on hatred of Jews, the destruction of Israel, and the ‘reclamation’ of land they falsely believe is theirs. The creation of a Palestinian state after the violence of the last year will only entrench terrorism in the nation’s founding mythos, ensuring constant regional conflict.
There are also several false ideas about the conflict itself and the means by which it has been prosecuted. One such notion is that Israel is the primary party to blame for escalating the conflict, a refrain that has been repeated ad nauseam. In reality, Iran and its terror proxies have been entirely responsible for perpetuating this war, from the initial Hamas barbarities and the broader regional expansion to the multiple direct attacks on Israel. Jerusalem has responded with disproportionate force, but that is the proper way to restore deterrence. These are defensive actions, as we have seen in Lebanon, where Israel is finally responding to thousands of indiscriminate rocket attacks from Hezbollah with targeted strikes against terrorist infrastructure. Israel’s enemies do not believe in the Jewish state’s right to exist and so Israel will continue fighting defensive actions until that changes.
Israel’s warfighting has also come under intense, though undue, criticism. Jerusalem has been accused of war crimes, indiscriminate bombing, and even genocide. And yet, Israel has had to fight one of the most complicated and intense wars in modern history – an exclusively urban conflict fought partially underground against a terrorist enemy that deliberately co-locates with civilian populations – and has done so with remarkably little collateral damage. It has moved civilian populations away from combat zones, struck only when targets were confirmed, and has targeted its enemies with incredible precision. It has mapped, cleared, and destroyed hundreds of kilometers of underground tunnel infrastructure in painstaking detail. And, it has facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilians of Gaza, disproving the repeated claims of imminent famine. Any modern military would be hard-pressed to accomplish one of these feats, much less all of them.
Finally, the year since October 7 has exposed as false the idea that most modern antisemitism emanates from the far right. Left-wing antisemitism has exploded into full view across the West, from cities to campuses. Major metropoles have seen enormous and disruptive demonstrations where participants explicitly targeted diaspora Jews, celebrated anti-Jewish violence, flew terrorist flags, and chanted antisemitic slogans. Campus encampments have forced some Jewish students to avoid certain areas and targeted others for violent assault. Many on the mainstream left have either excused these despicable acts or aided them by promulgating accusations of genocide against Israel, equivalent to blood libel for the social media age. The bulk of antisemitism in Western societies comes directly from the left, both on the streets and in the rhetorical sphere. The post-October 7 reality has decisively proven this fact.
These false claims have been embraced by a wide variety of commentators and politicians despite having no basis in reality. If America is to proceed in a clear-sighted manner, we must dispense with such falsehoods and the broader narratives that support them.