Israeli action in Gaza, however justified at the outset, has crossed the line and is proving intolerable to the international community. The death toll of innocent lives, many of them children, cannot be explained or excused. The fact that Hamas’ conduct – firing rockets towards Israeli towns and infiltrating individual terrorists into Israeli territory through tunnels – is outrageous, immoral and appalling, cannot justify Israel acting likewise. Nor can international criticism of Israeli action be dismissed as motivated by ill will towards Israel, which undoubtedly exists and undoubtedly sometimes verges on anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic outbreaks of hatred and violence in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, France especially, must be utterly deplored and condemned, and it is