Welcome to Beg to Differ, The Bullworks Weekly Roundtable discussion featuring civil conversation

across the political spectrum. From center left to center right, I'm Mona Charon, syndicated columnist and policy editor at the Bullwork. I'm joined by two of our

regulars, Linda Chavez of the Niskannon Center and Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution in the Wall Street Journal.

Damon Linker is off this week and sitting in for him is the Bullwork publisher Sarah

Longwell and we are delighted to welcome as our special guest this week, Brink Lindsay, also of the Niskannon Center, and not always on this continent.

So welcome back to North America Brink.

All right, let us begin with the war between Gaza,

between Hamas and Israel, and the dissension within the Democratic

Party about how to handle this. Hamas has, depending on how you count it, and what time it is, fired some 4,000 rockets into Israeli cities and towns.

Israel has responded with airstrikes.

There's a humanitarian disaster unfolding in Hamas in Gaza,

rather.

There are 200 dead Palestinians, 12 dead Israelis.

So let me start with you, Linda.

We've been through these before.

Does anything strike you as different this time?

Yes unfortunately I think Joe Biden is leaning a little bit into his progressive caucus and he at least

gives every indication of starting to take a harder line with Israel.

Obviously all of us would like to see the fighting stop,

but I think it's important to remember that it was Hamas that launched those 4,000 rockets

into Israeli cities and that Israel has not only a right to defend itself, but has a right to try to protect

itself from future attacks, which is why it is using overwhelming force to try to disrupt the network of tunnels

...