DADr. Tzahit Shoshani received her Ph.d in English Literature at the University of Haifa and lectures at the Netanya Academic College.
In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Dave Smith and Douglas Murray discussed the Israel-Gaza conflict. While the debate drew wide attention, one crucial truth went largely unnoticed: Smith’s impassioned takes, while seemingly well-intentioned, are dangerously detached from the realities on the ground — and that detachment carries a cost others are forced to bear, Israelis as well as Gazans.
Let me state my own bias upfront: I am Israeli. My perspective is shaped by decades of living under the explicit threat of annihilation — a threat made not only in rhetoric, but also in action. Smith does not share this burden. His positions, no matter how flawed, pose no risk to his safety or the safety of his loved ones.
Smith has never heard a missile siren, never sprinted for shelter, never hoped his children would make it to school unscathed. He has not endured two Intifadas or decades of rocket fire —even after the Gaza Strip was unilaterally evacuated of Israeli presence in 2005. Even in the U.S., he does not have to fear violent mobs for exercising free speech. This profound gap in lived experience matters.
And yet, from this position of safety, Smith broadcasts opinions that, intentionally or not, serve to validate a narrative that supports Hamas — a terror organization whose charter has long called for Israel’s destruction and in large part on the basis of which was elected. Hamas positions missile launchers in civilian areas, aiming indiscriminately at Israeli cities, while ensuring Palestinian Arab civilians remain close by to amplify casualties for propaganda purposes when Israel strikes to protect its citizens. Such deliberate and deadly strategies are routine for Hamas.
Smith argues as though advocacy for Gaza’s civilians and criticism of Israel are inherently aligned. But the reality is more complex: empowering Hamas by spewing distorted information does not protect Palestinian Arab civilians — it endangers them. By echoing simplistic and manipulative narratives, Smith effectively amplifies voices that excuse or ignore the use of human shields, the indoctrination of children, and the rejection of coexistence.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces are tasked with protecting Israeli civilians — Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze — in one of the world’s most complex combat environments. Mistakes are inevitable in the fog of war, but Israeli soldiers have operated in a densely booby-trapped terrain, facing enemies both above and below ground simultaneously. Thousands of IDF soldiers have been killed or maimed doing so. They do not seek martyrdom. They seek to prevent it — on both sides of the border.
To answer Rogan's question of whether one has to touch ground in order to articulate views on a conflict: False demagogues who at present endanger millions — Israelis and Gazans alike — in the midst of an active war deserve not a platform, but condemnation.
Douglas Murray, to his credit, had the decency to travel to the region and witness the reality firsthand before reporting and commenting on it. His commentary is shaped by ground truths rather than the armchair theories stated by Smith, theories often inspired by neo-Antisemite agendas. Dave Smith thinks he won a war in the fog of a smokey podcast studio across the ocean, but in reality, he is blind to the human cost beyond his growing audience.
There is no merit in malevolent ignorance, and certainly no decency in it.