I don't think I've read much by Jacobson apart from this conflict, so I don't know how logical and insightful he normally is. If he has been in the past, it seems the effort of not wanting to think ill of Israel against a mountain of evidence of their actions, has really addled his thinking.

This is how logical and insightful he was in 2009: www.independent.co.uk/voices/comme...

Howard Jacobson: Let's see the 'criticism' of Israel for what it

Emotions have run high over recent events in Gaza. And in this impassioned and searching essay, our writer argues that just below the surface runs a vicious strain of ancient prejudice