Victor Davis Hanson says Israel critiques reveal accusers' own historical flaws

In a video commentary, Victor Davis Hanson contends that recent accusations of apartheid, settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing and genocide against Israel say more about the critics’ backgrounds than about Israel itself.

Victor Davis Hanson, a senior contributor to one outlet, delivered a video analysis asserting that the surge of charges against Israel since Oct. 7—ranging from apartheid to genocide—reflects the accusers’ historical biases rather than factual violations. He notes that a mix of Democratic members of Congress, as well as commentators like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, have called Israel an apartheid state, yet Israel’s basic law does not require Jewish identity and includes two million Arab citizens who vote freely.

Hanson contrasts this with the legal frameworks of most Arab and Muslim-majority countries, many of which embed Islam as a state religion or criminalize apostasy, and argues those regimes are seldom labeled apartheid. He further disputes the settler-colonial and ethnic-cleansing accusations by referencing archaeological evidence of ancient Jewish habitation and by citing comparable or harsher actions by regimes such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, and China, noting the lack of similar criticism toward them.

Hanson also rebuts genocide claims by highlighting the growth of the Arab minority in Israel from 12 % to 20 % of the population. Concluding, he attributes the intense rhetoric to a youthful, university-based coalition that projects its own historical grievances onto a democratic Israel.