When David Becomes Goliath: Jon Stewart and Peter Beinart on Gaza

 

Jewish voices are not united on Gaza. Some defend Israel’s campaign as a matter of survival. Others, equally rooted in Jewish faith and memory, say the opposite: that the occupation and siege are tearing away at Judaism’s moral foundation.

On The Daily Show (source, full episode here), Jon Stewart sat down with writer and scholar Peter Beinart to wrestle with a question that refuses to go away: when does defending a people’s security become the very thing that endangers it?

A Personal Cost

Beinart admitted that speaking against Israel’s war in Gaza has cost him friendships. Judaism, he said, is at the centre of his life. Losing the approval of fellow Jews hurts, but silence would cost more. He stressed that he lives freely and safely, unlike Palestinians in Gaza. That contrast fuels his decision to speak.

Good Jew, Bad Jew

Stewart raised the old accusation. Critics call him a “bad Jew” for challenging Israel. But what, he asked, makes a Jew “good”? Stewart argued that Judaism itself gave him moral clarity: if history teaches Jews to side with the underdog, how can they ignore Palestinians? “What happens when David becomes Goliath?” he asked.

Beinart answered that Jewish texts show both sides of human nature. Jews have been victims, but they have also become rulers and oppressors. To him, honesty means acknowledging both roles.

The Word Nobody Wants to Say

The conversation turned to the harshest accusation: genocide. Beinart cited B’Tselem, Israel’s most prominent human rights group, which has declared that the policy in Gaza meets that definition. Stewart noted a New York Times column that claimed Israel could not be guilty of genocide because it was too strong to kill slowly. Beinart dismissed the logic as “cynical,” pointing instead to deliberate starvation and siege tactics.

Safety Bound Together

Beinart’s central claim was blunt. Israeli Jews will never be safe unless Palestinians are safe. Security cannot be built on inequality. He recalled Martin Luther King’s phrase that Americans were “bound in a single garment of destiny.” The same, he said, applies to Jews and Palestinians.

The Failure of Nonviolence

What, Stewart asked, about those who insist Palestinians should resist peacefully? Beinart pointed to 2018, when thousands in Gaza marched non-violently. Israeli soldiers shot into the crowds, maiming so many that an amputee soccer team was later formed. Boycotts are criminalized. Appeals to the International Criminal Court are punished with sanctions. “The message to Palestinians,” Beinart said, “is that non-violence doesn’t work.” That leaves room for groups like Hamas to thrive.

A Fortress or a Home?

Stewart recalled being taught that Israel was necessary to guarantee Jewish survival. But if Jews require an armed fortress to exist, he asked, has humanity already failed? Sharon’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 might have been an opening. Instead, settlements in the West Bank expanded and settler violence rose. Hope dimmed.

Beinart reminded him of Salam Fayyad, the most moderate Palestinian leader in recent decades. In 2013, Fayyad admitted defeat: despite rejecting violence, he could not stop settlements “for a single day.” His failure, he warned, would only empower Hamas.

Listening to Palestinians

Why do many American Jews defend equality under law in the United States but not in Israel? Beinart answered simply: because they rarely hear Palestinians. Palestinian voices are excluded from synagogues, schools, and mainstream media. When people go and see life under occupation, when they listen, he said, their views often change.

A Painful Book

Stewart ended by describing Beinart’s new work, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, as painful but necessary. The book, he said, forces readers to decide for themselves.

Credit: Conversation from The Daily Show (YouTube link). Full video: Jon Stewart with Peter Beinart.