How to Talk about Israel with  Someone You Disagree with

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, senior rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan in New York City, suggests asking those who dispute Israel's actions in Gaza the following questions:

• I hear your calls for a ceasefire, and I want peace as much as you. But don’t you think that if your demands for a ceasefire were preceded by a demand for the hostages to be released, those demands would be practically and morally stronger?
  

• I understand your outrage over proportionality. But how do you explain the fact that the same people accusing Israel of war crimes cannot bring themselves to name the atrocities of Oct. 7?
  

• I hear you chanting for Palestinian liberation. I also believe in a two-state solution. But when I hear, “from the river to the sea,” I’m concerned about the line blurring between championing Palestinian self-determination and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. It is not clear to me. Is it clear to you?