A reader writes (I suspect) for many:

I'm a non-practicing, non-believing guy with Jewish heritage -- therefore, a "self-hating Jew" I suppose. Still, I believe there is a solid post-Holocaust rationale for a Jewish state to serve as a safe-haven. I also believe the manner in which Palestinians were dispossessed to make Israel a reality is almost as ugly as Indian Removal policies of United States. I'm 100% in favor of there being an Israel, and I'm 100% in favor of there being a Palestine (contiguous and unadulterated). But right now, I'm 100% firmly in the camp of "a pox on both their houses."

I've seen this fucking merry-go-round spin and spin and spin for years. It's not going to stop until Israelis and Palestinians have either wiped each other out or decided they no longer enjoy the taste of one-anothers' blood. There just isn't anything any nation or group of nations external to this blood-feud can do to stop it. So, let it burn itself out. If the West (and I suppose China, India, and Russia) begin by publicly acknowledging that both sides are clearly more invested in conflict than peace, then we can move on to consideration of some sort of containment policy that confines the combatants to their own regional Thunderdome.

I'd be perfectly happy if our stated position was: "Kill each other all you want, but have the common courtesy to keep it amongst yourselves."

That means ending aid to both Israel and the PA. I wonder what the vote would be on that if the American people were allowed to have the final say.