Look, I didn’t see this coming either but the fact is that since the 10/7 attack on Israel a couple of Democrats have surprised me with their consistent and cogent defenses of Israel. One of them is this guy.

Source passes along this photo of Sen. John Fetterman at the March for Israel with an Israeli flag draped around him: pic.twitter.com/aiJV2dKwl0

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 14, 2023

I haven’t had much positive to say about Fetterman in the past but now, I’m genuinely enjoying the spectacle of him pissing off leftist protesters. It’s a little hard to see but in response to these protesters he waived an Israeli flag.

Jackass @JohnFetterman saw veterans getting arrested and laughed.

We asked to see @SenGillibrand. We were put in cuffs.

We need leaders who listen to veterans demanding a #CeaseFireNow pic.twitter.com/M7tHJ9RUS5

— About Face: Veterans Against the War (@VetsAboutFace) November 10, 2023

But honestly, Fetterman hasn’t been on the scene very long so I don’t have the same history of thinking and writing about him as I do about this next person. I never would have thought I’d find myself saying a kind word about Hillary Rodham Clinton. I have actively disliked her (and her husband) since 1992. The number of times I’ve written about Hillary as clearly the villain in a given story since I started blogging in 2005 cannot be calculated. Hillary’s quotes on various issues have stuck with me like few others. “This vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband.” “What difference, at this point, does it make?” “What, like with a cloth?” If you drew a Venn diagram of our political views they would be distinct circles with no overlap. At least that’s what I always thought.

But since 10/7, I have to say Hillary has done a pretty good job defending a position on Israel that I agree with. On this one issue, it turns out I’m with her. Or maybe she’s with me but in any case we’re in basic agreement, at least so far. The Atlantic published an opinion piece by Hillary today titled “Hamas Must Go.” It opens with her own efforts as Secretary of State in 2012 to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But that agreement didn’t last long.

In 2014, Hamas violated the cease-fire and started another war by abducting Israeli hostages and launching rocket attacks against civilians. Israel responded forcefully, but Hamas remained in control of Gaza. The terrorists re-armed, and the pattern repeated itself in 2021, with more civilians killed. This all culminated in the horrific massacre of Israeli civilians last month, the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust…

On October 7, these terrorists killed babies, raped women, and kidnapped innocent civilians. They continue to hold more than 200 hostages. They have proved again and again that they will not abide by cease-fires, will sabotage any efforts to forge a lasting peace, and will never stop attacking Israel…

So the Biden administration is correct not to seek a full cease-fire at this moment, which would give Hamas a chance to re-arm and perpetuate the cycle of violence. Hamas would claim that it had won and it would remain a key part of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance…

It is possible that if Israel dismantles Hamas’s infrastructure and military capacity and demonstrates that terrorism is a dead end, a new peace process could begin in the Middle East. But a cease-fire that leaves Hamas in power and eager to strike Israel will make this harder, if not impossible. For decades, Hamas has undermined every serious attempt at peace by launching new attacks, including the October 7 massacre that seems to have been designed, at least in part, to disrupt progress toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

This is the key insight that people on the left keep choosing to ignore: No peace is ever going to be possible with Hamas. Truly not ever. Israel tried to contain the threat but that failed. There was a ceasefire on Oct. 6 and Hamas once again broke it in the belief that their attack would lead to the final destruction of Israel. This is their only goal. They’ve been extremely clear about this, vowing more attacks in the future. So the only chance for actual peace is to take them off the board.

Hillary made a similar case last week on the View. And once again I think she did a very good job. When Sunny Hostin tried to push her to the left with a quote from former President Obama, Hillary took it and ran with it but if you listen closely, I don’t think she’s actually agreeing with Obama so much as she’s contradicting him a bit.

It’s very weird to find myself agreeing with Fetterman and Hillary. I’m sure it won’t last for long but for now anyone willing to contradict the screechy “From the river to the sea” protesters is okay with me.