Sunday, in my community of faith, one of our pastors gave a sermon on King Solomon. On the one hand, Solomon is widely known for his wisdom. Nevertheless, the Scriptures also describe how he made many unwise (=stupid) mistakes. Which of the following affirmations is true: “Solomon was wise” or “Solomon made stupid mistakes”? Although they seem contradictory, both can be accurate and true…at the same time and referring to the same person. His father, King David, was “a man after God’s own heart”, yet after committing adultery with Bathsheba, he tried to cover this sin with a more deadly one, in which he authorized the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband.

The pages of history are strewn with examples of these moral contradictions. One of my favorite U.S. presidents was Abraham Lincoln. He freed the slaves. He kept the Union together during a horrible civil war that cost some 620,000 lives. Nevertheless, that war involved actions that were morally horrific. Lincoln authorized Sherman’s non justified “march to the sea” (with its scorched earth policy) in which thousands upon thousands of Southern civilians had their homes and farms ravaged and destroyed. At one and the same time, Lincoln was a good moral president who also made some ethically horrible decisions.

We can see this moral contradiction in both Trump and Netanyahu. Accurate descriptions will give credit/blame where they are due.

Trump and team should receive credit for brokering the ceasefire

• Most hostages on both sides have been released
• Israel is removing its soldiers from Gaza
• Hamas has agreed to disarm
• Palestinians have the right to self-determination
• Humanitarian aid will immediately increase into Gaza
• Some twenty nations (Arab, European) have pledged to support the peace process with resources
• An international “Board of Peace” will be created to ensure safety and stability in Gaza and a process leading to self-government

These phases require Trump to focus and follow through on his commitments. These will probably be more difficult for him than this initial step of the ceasefire.

It is appropriate and important to assign blame to Trump for his actions/policies that are immoral, dangerous and/or misguided. Some of these are:

• Trump’s gutting of USAID is causing the premature death of tens of thousands innocent people around the world.
• Trump’s firing of needed federal employees (FEMA, CDC, IRS) which is causing unnecessary harm to these workers and to the American public.
• Trump promised to end the war against Ukraine on “Day 1”, but peace is far away because Trump has coddled Putin and has not applied economic sanctions. At least Trump acknowledges that Putin has “played him”.
• Trump promised to target criminal undocumented immigrants, but over 60% of those detained by ICE have NO CRIMINAL RECORD!
• Trump promised the Epstein files would be released, but he and Republican leaders (like Johnson) are doing everything possible to block their release. What is Trump hiding?
• Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is really quite ugly, because it takes away health care from millions of tax-paying citizens and food from the mouths of babes.
• Trump promised to reduce prices for consumers, but he has an obsession with tariffs that add to inflation and have been a failure (see China).
• Almost all of Trump’s public actions are moves toward presidential authoritarianism at the expense of the legislative and judiciary branches of our government and states’ rights.
• Trump has character flaws that no ethical system can condone (bullying, womanizing, racism, lying to an extreme, blaming others for his own failures). MAGA readers: where is your prophetic voice against personal immorality?

Netanyahu likewise deserves credit and blame. Here is a short summary.

• He should be credited for standing up to the conservative “war hawks” in his Cabinet who wanted to continue the war in Gaza.
• He should also be credited for changing his position on Palestinian self-determination which the peace deal acknowledges.
• Nevertheless, Netanyahu has rightly been found guilty of war crimes and genocide by the ICC. These are serious crimes and should not be swept under the rug.
• Even today, he has made comments that cast doubt on whether he will abide by Trump’s 20-point plan. After Trump obtained an invitation for him to attend the summit in Egypt, Bibi backed out. Today’s celebration might be premature.

Today, more than ever, we the people need to express our approval or disapproval of our national leaders, not based on their party affiliation, but rather on whether their actions and policies are just or unjust.