Foreign Policy Expert Harley Lippman, who is visiting Israel as part of the Israel Heritage Foundation delegation, joined Arutz Sheva - Israel National News to discuss the motivations behind visiting Israel at such a time. ''A lot of people in America don't really know what's going on here. There's a lot of misinformation, so I'm coming here and being a thought leader on American television and Arab television. I wanted to see for myself what's going on here, speak to the decision makers, to Israeli soldiers, families of hostages, and then go back and report on what's happening in the Middle East.''
Israel, he claims, bears some of the blame for the shift in world opinion against it. ''A lot of mistakes went around, the first of which was by Israel. They didn't protect their citizens. None of this would have happened if they were stopped on the border of Gaza.''
There is more that Israel needs to improve, though. ''The real mistake is how this is communicated to the world. The two biggest distortions are that Israel's committing genocide and occupying Palestinian land. These are both addressable - the head of West Point said that when you look at deaths of combatants to civilians, Israel is doing a remarkable job in not harming innocent civilians in Gaza, especially when you consider it's one of the most challenging urban battlefields in history. The sophistication of the tunnels is remarkable, and Hamas has proven to be very sophisticated, so one Israel is not committing genocide. If they were committing genocide, Israel has enough weaponry to wipe out the Palestinians if they wanted to, so clearly there's no genocide - but they're saying Israel is committing genocide.''
He turned to address the accusations of occupation. ''Israel pulled out of Gaza almost twenty years ago. Hamas has been running and governing Gaza, and and the people in Gaza elected Hamas.''
Lippman urges a more agressive public relations approach. ''We have to do a better job of reminding people of the hostages, of the massive rape and torture that they committed. I would make the point that in certain ways, Hamas is even more evil than the Nazis - I don't want to minimize the Holocaust, but even the Nazis were somewhat ashamed of what they did, and hit it. Their major goal was only to kill as many Jews as possible, but when Hamas invaded Israel, their policy was torture - as long and as much as possible - before they even killed their victims.''
He addressed the newly displayed power of the Abraham Accords. ''When Iran attacked Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, England, France, and the United States worked together. This is shows the effectiveness of the Abraham Accords. Were it not for the Abraham Accords, I'm not sure this would have worked out. We have to deepen the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia has a very open-minded view towards Israel. They want to accept Israel as a nation among equals, and they are eager for friendship with Israel. They have conditions attached - they want is irreversible steps towards a Palestinian nation. ]I don't think the notion of a Palestine is so bad - look at Gaza. That's Palestine.''
''The question is, what will Palestine look like as as long as it's demilitarized? You need to have a group of people in power that have economic benefits, so they have something to lose. They don't have to love Israel. Could we bring in the Gulf States to help? Absolutely. First, though, Hamas has to be defeated.''
He also gave his views on the recent shift in US policy towards Israel. ''This is the worst time ever in US relations. It's an election year, so President Biden is is worried. He's worried about a very small Arab vote in Michigan because Michigan is what is called a battleground state, and it's going to be very important, but I think Biden is making a mistake that will cost him the election - he's turning on an ally in the midst of a war. Then, when the Secretary of Defense of England said they're going to support Israel, within a day or two, the USA said they're going to give $1B to Israel, so you're getting mixed messages. Biden is trying to work both sides, but by doing that, he's making no one happy. I think Biden should go back to his approach when Israel was first attacked.''
Lippman also commented on the protests on campuses. '"There's a lot of ignorance. These are liberal progressives supporting Hamas, which is anathema to everything a liberal progressive believes in. None of them are saying 'Peace Now' - they're saying 'Free Palestine'. The hostages and their families are never mentioned. It's a it's a kind of of evil I don't know how to describe.''
He does, however, have a plan for confronting it. ''I want to understand the Israeli view better, so when I go back on television, I will be able to talk about and explain to the world why they need to stand behind Israel in its hour of need. Otherwise, although Hamas could never defeat Israel on the battlefield, it has a good chance of defeating Israel in the fight for public opinion.''