Responding to Criticism of My Israel Article

The article outlining my stance on Israel’s war has been read more than any other I’ve published here. The video based on it has been watched more than 10 million times across various platforms. The reason it resonated, I believe, is that it was widely shared by people who felt it summarised their thoughts on the conflict.

However, no piece of content reaching millions of people is ever likely to go uncriticised, especially on a controversial subject like this one. The article appears to have stirred into action comedian and commentator Dave Smith, who is most known for his libertarian and “anti-war” views. We have crossed swords before when we debated the issue of Ukraine.

“I like Konstantin and think he’s a bright guy who hosts very interesting and thoughtful conversations. He just gets this issue… all wrong,” Dave said when posting his response video.

Before we begin, I want to say that I like Dave too. We have different views on many things, but having debated with him, I would say that he is smart and good at breaking down complex issues, even if I often don’t agree with his conclusions. The fact that he is intelligent and able to debate ideas without descending into name-calling and bad faith arguments is a huge asset and the reason I’m responding. The other reason is that, given that Dave is intelligent, I actually can’t believe some of the arguments he made.