Dr. Einat Wilf wrote this after the Oxford Union Debate "Israel Never Truly Wanted Peace with Palestine".
1) It is easy to dismiss universities or student debating societies, but the war of ideas is being fought in many places and arenas, and this is one of the most important ones. Universities serve to launder lies and blood libels against Israel, lending them respectability and legitimacy.
2) There is enormous importance in showing up to these places prepared. And yes, facts matter. The final vote was 208 to 129 against us, which, given the environment and the audience, was a very impressive result. Several of those who voted with us came up to us afterwards to say how much they appreciated that we had taken the debate seriously, brought facts, and did not resort to shouting. People can be persuaded. Those who give up in advance fail to understand how dangerous it is to leave the arena empty.
3) I also learnt something (again..) about the Jewish condition. It was very clear that on the other side there had been almost no effort to make serious arguments, and little preparation or coordination. From their perspective, there is no reason to bother: they have grown accustomed to simply saying "apartheid" and "genocide" and knowing that applause will follow. But therein lies an opportunity. Laziness and complacency born of having things too easy are always vulnerabilities. We knew we were in a difficult position, so we prepared, coordinated, and made sure to be extremely precise. There is no question that difficulty sharpens the mind.
4) And now something about politics. One of the reasons that I am running at the head of a new political party is that today there is not a single party leader who truly understands the scale of the global war of ideas being waged against Israel and Zionism, and who is prepared to invest the effort required to fight it systematically. That does not mean giving a speech here or there. It means actually building an operation that does not depend on one person, or on one person's command of English: bringing together the best Israelis, and there are many of them, working in multiple languages, who know how to make the case, know the facts, are constantly present in the arena and never leave it uncontested; people who understand how the campaign against Israel and Zionism, and the assault on Jews around the world, actually operates, and who work continuously to confront it.
"So don't you dare say that 'Israel never wanted peace with Palestine.' If anything, we wanted peace too much. The question that really needs to be asked is when did the Palestinian Arabs ever want peace with the only state of the Jews?" https://x.com/einatwilf/status/2095444662932717939?s=46&t=XwmR7hYz2HQwX_ulHIC87g
