For Israel to settle Lebanon is to further destroy any hope we can hold for peace. Prospects for peace are now little more than fanciful as we stare down a religious war between Judaism, together with its Christian backers, and Islam. If we do not search, however, we will not find, so it is upon us to exercise an open mind. The path to peace could run through Lebanon, but the view is obstructed by a holy war.

Zionism was established as a political philosophy by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century. In response to a rise in antisemitism that was but the latest in a seemingly endless cycle of hostility against European Jews, Zionism offered hope. While segments of European Orthodoxy rejected Zionism for theological reasons, many socialist youth embraced it for its promise of safety, security, and common prosperity. Whatever interpretation of the Jewish story one may apply, the simple fact is that an ancient people returned to their historical homeland and formed a modern state where millions now live. There will be no peace if that cannot be accepted.

Israel has both Jewish and Arab citizens who live within its pre-1967 borders, alongside Arabs in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) who are subject to military rule, and Israeli Jews who live there under Israeli civil law. Across Israel, Gaza, Judea, and Samaria, live approximately 14.5 million people, roughly split between Arabs and Jews.

Like Arab and Muslim acceptance of Israel’s right to exist, Zionism must reconcile the open wound that is its expulsion, dispossession, and occupation of Arabs from their homes and lands, which persists to this day. Expulsions underway in South Lebanon foretell a story that Zionism can ill afford to perpetuate.

The war being fought between America and Israel on one side, and Iran and Hezbollah on the other, reflects a deep ideological........

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