As horrors abound in Gaza, author Peter Beinart appeals for human dignity for all and a new Jewish identity

At sundown tonight, Jewish people around the world will begin the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Next week is Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The High Holidays are a time of connecting to Jewish heritage and traditions, and a time of reflection, self-examination and repentance. Today on Midday, we speak to the author of a new book that explores these ancient themes in the context of a modern horror; Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. Peter Beinart, an acclaimed journalist and public intellectual, is an observant Jew who has thought deeply about strife in Israel and Palestine. His book explores what it means to be a Jew at a moment in history when Israel is isolated and criticized because of its conduct of the war in Gaza, a war that it has expanded to include attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and Qatar. Peter Beinart’s latest book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, is piercing and personal. For years, Beinart was one of Israel’s staunchest defenders. He now finds himself at odds with family, friends and fellow congregants over the moral dimensions of the war that has seen the death of thousands of Israeli soldiers and citizens, and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and Hamas combatants.