Moulton Op-Ed: 'Core principles' should guide US approach to Israel-Gaza conflict

More than six months after October 7th, Congressman Seth Moulton writes in a new Salem News op-ed that we must agree on three fundamental principles to guide our approach to Israel and Gaza moving forward. An excerpt of the piece follows. Read the full op-ed can be found on the Salem News website.

The pain from the Israel-Hamas conflict is deep, both in Gaza itself and around the world. I've heard from Palestinians who escaped horrific conditions and from Israelis who had family members taken hostage or slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Even from thousands of miles away, we all share a sense of loss and anger at how the conflict has unfolded.

That pain has produced deep disagreements about how Israel and the United States should respond. Those disagreements have been compounded by the wild untruths that some people continue to espouse, like "Hamas never committed any atrocities against innocent people," or "there is no risk of starvation in Gaza."

Disagreement is natural in the face of complicated, long-standing problems, but there are some fundamental principles that should guide our approach to Israel and Gaza.

Three in particular stand out:

First, Israel has a right to exist and an obligation to defend itself. The barbaric attacks of Oct. 7 by Hamas were a stark reminder of just how evil this terrorist group is - it has the destruction of Israel written into its founding charter. Terrorism is never justified, and if Hamas would simply disarm, the war would end tomorrow. Simply put, there will never be peace in the Middle East so long as a terrorist group has power over the Palestinian people.

Second, both Israelis and Palestinians deserve democratic rights, freedoms, and security. Neither side will truly have peace and freedom until both sides do. The only viable way to achieve these fundamental goals is through a two-state solution. In spite of the massive challenges, nobody has suggested a better alternative. Without a fundamental change to the status quo, the violence that has persisted for decades will never truly end.

Third, absolutely none of the developments in Israel, Gaza, or elsewhere can justify the surge in hate we've seen, especially in antisemitism, at home and abroad. Antisemitic incidents are reportedly up 400% since October, and anti-Muslim hate crimes are way up, too. People can have genuine policy disagreements about what Israel or the United States is doing, but the hypocrisy of protesting violence with hate that leads to more violence should not be lost on anyone."

Read the rest of the piece here.