My thoughts on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Though I plan to be laser focused on local issues only, some have asked for my stance on this complex problem.
The terrorist events of October 7, 2023 and the war that followed in their wake was a horrendously painful expression of hate, revenge and cruelty on both sides of the border. October 7th was the most painful day for Israelis and Jews around the world since the Holocaust. Netanyahu’s government severely over-responded and is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of non-combatant Gazans, including all too many young children. The physical destruction and the withholding of aid to Gaza is heartbreaking and wrong. The loss of life on both sides of the border, though that loss is significantly greater in Gaza, is heart breaking. The kidnapping, starving and abuse of residents of Israel from the age of 9 months to late eighties by Hamas, many for over 2 years, is barbaric. The administrative detention without trial of Palestinians, illegal and overcrowded physical conditions, and lack of basic needs in Israeli jails is unconscionable. I hope that out of the horrible ashes of this war can rise a renewed and serious path towards a two state solution where both Palestinians and Jews can live in peace and treat each other with honor and dignity.
I also believe that the rhetoric that demonizes the State of Israel and the philosophy of Zionism (that Jews have a right to self determination in their ancestral land) clearly leads to antisemitic attacks on Jews worldwide and is therefore inflammatory and dangerous. It is my opinion that this constitutes hate speech and should not be tolerated.