On NPR today, I heard two examples of frantic backtracking on the Gaza atrocity. Condolezza Rice, in her best hurt little girl voice pleading for Israel to offer humanitarian aid to the “civilians” in the massive Israeli concentration camp, and a movement among Israelis to reverse the awful policy. Another author, Amos Oz, says that the only solution to the problem is the “two-state solution” (forgive me if this formulation draws uncomfortable parallels.)

This sudden sea change is an example of the truism that no matter how corrupt, undemocratic, or awful a government, it still rests upon the consent of the governed. It signifies an uncanny awareness that as a result of this unrighteous action, the very legitimacy of the Jewish state in Palestine has come under serious, widespread question and attack, and the elites there and in the US are in a fearful panic over what this might mean.

GOOD.