[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]

The Israeli response to the betrayal of an ally that has shared critical information on Islamic terrorism with the first three countries that just have now recognized a state of Palestine has been immediate and furious. You can find out more about it here: “Rewarding Terror: Israel slams UK, Canada, Australia for recognizing ‘State of Palestine,’” by Greg Richter, American Thinker, September 21, 2025:

The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have formally recognized a Palestinian state, declaring the move necessary to revive a two-state solution and curb the bloodshed in Gaza. But to Israel and its supporters, the recognition amounts to nothing less than a reward for terrorism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a blunt rebuke:

“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism.

And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”

That last phrase — “will not be established west of the Jordan River” — naturally puts listeners in mind of what there is “east of the Jordan River,” which is the country now called Jordan, but is in fact Eastern Palestine, 78% of the land that was originally intended to be included in the territory where the Mandate for Palestine would apply. And that is a fact that Netanyahu has carefully alluded to, and of which the world must be constantly reminded: there already exists a Palestinian state east of the Jordan, built on land that was originally intended by the League of Nations to become part of the Jewish state.

Before Hamas’ orgy of rapes, tortures, mutilations, and murders, 60% of Israeli Jews were against the “two-state solution.” Now 80% of those Jews oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. And that support among Israeli Jews for a Palestinian state continues to drop, not least because of the sense of betrayal Israelis now feel at those former allies that have rushed to recognize a “state of Palestine.”

“Israeli officials note that recognizing Palestinian statehood without dismantling Hamas, freeing hostages, and imposing meaningful security guarantees undermines Israel’s survival. One coalition member called it “an absurd prize for terrorism” and urged Israel to “remove the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.”

Israeli officials note that recognizing Palestinian statehood without dismantling Hamas, freeing hostages, and imposing meaningful security guarantees undermines Israel’s survival. One coalition member called it “an absurd prize for terrorism” and urged Israel to “remove the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever.”…

The episode underscores the widening gulf between Israel and even its closest allies. To Jerusalem, recognizing statehood under Hamas control is not a path to peace but an incentive for more violence.

Good can come of this, and evil. The evil we know: Hamas is celebrating this recognition of a “state of Palestine,” seeing it as vindication of its attack on October 7, 2023. The good is this: the Israeli leaders are now unanimous in their rejection of these “recognizers-of-Palestine,” and the people of Israel will be more steeled than ever to fight on in their seven-front war, and to reject the calls for the Jewish state to accede in any way to that idiotic “two-state solution” that its former friends and allies are now so hell-bent on promoting.