“But” is the hinge word in commentary on Israel. When uttered by a man who, in, say, Governor Walz, vies to become America’s next vice president, voters might account for such bet-hedging. Speaking to a National Public Radio affiliate in Michigan, WCMU, the winning assistant high school football coach and ex-sergeant major was asked what a Harris-Walz administration would do in respect of the war in Gaza. 

“Well,” Mr. Walz started out, “I think first and foremost, what we saw on October 7 was a horrific act of violence against the people of Israel. They have certainly, and the vice president said it, I’ve said it, have the right to defend themselves, and the United States will always stand by that.” So far, all the obligatory words are there. Mr. Walz seems to have been briefed on the war’s origin and America’s position on it. Then came the confounded conjunction.

“But we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen,” Mr. Walz added. “The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves.” He called for putting “the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two-state solution. I think we’re at a critical point right now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction. But I think those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons.” 

Those “reasons” could perhaps explain the “but” crowd’s take on the war. Michigan, where a sizable anti-Israel population lives, is a hub of the Iran-financed pro-Hamas mayhem. Some Democrats believe that by appealing to that faction, they could secure that must-win state. Yet America’s global interests are more important than the dubious assumption that by appealing to street marauders one could win an election. Gaza isn’t Michigan.  

What is “happening” in Gaza, of course, is Israel’s war, with at-times qualified American support, to ensure that Hamas would never again be in a position to repeat October 7, as it vows to do. Levying that war is the very definition of that to which Mr. Walz claims to believe that Israel has a right. Yet the word Hamas is somehow missing from his diatribe. He also fails to mention the 101 hostages who have been held in Gaza for nearly a year. 

That seven of those are American, including four who could be alive, makes that omission even worse. Mr. Walz could at least have focused on last week’s execution of six hostages, including the California-born Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents spoke at the DNC convention. Instead, he opts to focus on the “but,” and the “two-state solution.” That, he reckons, is where we must put “leverage.” Here Mr. Walz finally names a bad guy.

Focusing on Prime Minister Netanyahu is an overused far-left trope. In poll after poll Palestinian Arabs show little interest in the vaunted “solution” pushed by outsiders since the 1990s. After October 7 almost no Israeli leader still favors a new terrorist state on Israel’s border. Blaming Mr. Netanyahu and Israel, not Hamas, for the difficulties in Gaza — as Israel’s critics the world over are doing — has it exactly backwards. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.