As Eli Lake, proud neoconservative and contributor to the Free Press, chortled afterwards "What you guys think Zionism was? Vibes? Seminars?"

(Article by Hunter Derensis republished from FreeWestMedia.com)

Iran retaliated in full force, and escalation has continued. On Saturday, Israel requested the United States join the war, whose goal appears to be complete regime change in Tehran.

The Trump administration has kept its cards close to its chest; American military personnel and equipment have assisted with Israel's missile defense, but Washington did not participate in Thursday's barrage and has not entered full belligerency status.

Outside the White House, the response from members of Congress and governors has been near universal endorsement for Israel's unprovoked attack. (Brave, patriotic outliers notwithstanding.) But among the general public, the question has been much more contentious, reflecting the chasm between voters and their political class on Israel–Palestine.

In the short term, President Donald Trump must resist entrapment in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war of choice, continue to make (likely futile) attempts at negotiations, and defend the safety of U.S. soldiers caught in the middle—preferably by funneling them out of the region entirely. In the bigger picture, the United States must begin the process of separating fervent Zionism from its policymaking institutions.

Israel's behavior is anathema to any kind of morality or human decency. From its numerous wars of aggression and territorial expansion, to its racialist laws, to the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of people from their ancestral homes and their continued debasement under a brutal military occupation (which has lasted longer than the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe), to its war of annihilation on Gaza, including the purposeful targeting of civilians and children—this is not a government that can be reasoned with.