Dan Perry

The prime minister has been beholden to religious and ultra-nationalist parties for most of his career.

Recognition alone – currently planned by France, Britain, Belgium, Canada, and others – will not bring peace.

Netanyahu’s policies are alienating American Jews, threatening Israel’s key support in Washington and risking its diplomatic future.

The first priority must be to bring home every last hostage. If Hamas later balks, that will be one thing. But if not, then the deal must be completed.

Maturity, and strategy, require the correct identification of the path that is the least bad.

Hamas has won a “hunger narrative,” and this is why countries like France and Britain are now threatening to recognize the state of Palestine. That’s somewhat true, but it misses the bigger picture.

This opens the door to an endgame in Gaza, where Hamas is finally gone, the Palestinian Authority reenters with regional international backing, and war gives way to rebuilding and diplomacy.

In France, Belgium, Sweden, and beyond, many Jews have come to fear that radical Islamist ideology is allowed to fester unchallenged under the very freedoms meant to preserve open society.

Israel's brittle democracy is vulnerable to attacks from within because of its lack of a constitution and other critical elements.

That route will not bring peace, but likely violence. It will pit clans against clans and Palestinians against one another. In the fog of violence, Jews will be killed.