Like Schwartz in the old Jewish joke, you can almost picture Israel armed, alert, and diplomatically dressed waiting for the world to show up. Maybe someone will come, we think. But after this war, the wiser question isn’t who arrives, but rather why the waiting room is still open. Wars reveal many things: not just how nations fight, but who truly stands beside them once the dust settles. This last Gaza war didn’t just redraw lines on the map; it redrew the lines of friendship.

When Hamas unleashed its October terror attack, the world’s outrage was immediate and near-unanimous. Western capitals lit up blue and white, leaders called the assault “barbaric,” and for a brief moment, Israel’s moral position seemed ironclad. Sympathy wasn’t a debate; it was instinct. But international solidarity, it turns out, has a half-life shorter than a news cycle. As the IDF advanced in Gaza, and civilian images filled screens, the moral mood shifted. Governments that had once expressed full support began calibrating their words for domestic audiences. The further the war went, the louder came the caveats: “Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself, but…”

Behind the shift was political arithmetic. In Europe, large Muslim populations and vocal activist networks turned empathy into electoral liability. In the US, political polarization quickly attached itself to Israel’s every move. What began as moral clarity dissolved into moral balancing. Yet, despite the diplomatic erosion, Israel’s military proved its mettle. The IDF’s precision raids, underground warfare, and intelligence integration showcased the kind of operational maturity that few modern armies could match. But while Israel was dismantling tunnels in Rafah, it was also........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)