By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Israel Mostly Stands Alone

On the international stage, Israel mostly stands alone. Diplomacy, for Israel, can more often be a barrier than a bridge. It has its allies, of course, but it also has more than its share of detractors.

Indeed, it is often singled out in a way no other nation deals with—sometimes by its so-called friends.

It is often claimed that the United States is Israel's staunchest ally and that Israel is the best ally of the US in the Middle East. This alliance is often called “ironclad”—rooted in shared democratic values and fostered by strategic interests. However, the sincerity of this friendship seems to waver depending on who is in the White House. US support is based less on affinity and more on regional and global strategic interests.

While the United States benefits from having a stable ally in the region, it is essential to note the mutual advantages of this partnership. Israel provides the United States with invaluable intelligence, technological innovation, and a democratic foothold in the Middle East. The alliance is not a one-sided affair, but rather a mutual relationship of collaboration that serves both nations' interests.

Israel faces a delicate balancing act as it tries to forge new partnerships. Amongst its Arab neighbors, Israel has seen some improvement in recent years—notably with the Abraham Accords. However, it would be an understatement to simply say "challenges remain."

One of the largest challenges to the public perception of Israel comes from the United Nations, The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has an automatic majority arranged against Israel from their enemies in the Arab World. Many resolutions—a vastly disproportionate amount—passed UNGA against Israel due to the nature of its bloc voting system. Rather than reflect individual issues, these resolutions represent longstanding grievances of Israel's foes.

Thanks to globalization and technological advances, Israel is often referred to as the “Start-up Nation.” Technological prowess in agriculture, cybersecurity, engineering, healthcare, software development, and more has made Israel a world-class hub for innovation.

These successes can also foster collaboration and bridge gaps between nations on the world stage, fostering some international goodwill. Collaborations, especially in academia, allow for greater advancements and breakthroughs in science and technology around the globe—for the betterment of all. Sadly, enemies of Israel try to dampen those collaborations through the BDS movement.

That said, some of the same things that enable those resounding successes for Israel—instantaneous communication and interconnectedness, as a key example— allow for disinformation and misinformation to spread rapidly. Social media allows for narratives to shift without regard to accuracy, context, or facts—which allows hate to fester and flourish online. Often swaying public perception to the detriment of Israel—with real-world ramifications.

The normalization of relations between Israel and some of its neighbors in the Arab world_; marks a significant shift. The changes implicate the possibility of a realignment within the Middle East; driven by mutual concerns and interests.

The uptick in antisemitism—and so-called anti-Zionism—around the world makes these efforts more fraught. They lead to an instability that makes us all less safe—not just from potential antisemitic attacks or pogroms, but from war. Iran is continuing to be belligerent and continues to arm and fund its proxy terror groups. The lack of resolve in the West fosters this. Politically, the actions on college campuses and protests in our cities give cover for malign actors to pressure world leaders to abandon moral clarity—selling out our values for political expediency.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel. More than 1,200 people were slaughtered—many of whom were tortured, raped, and burnt alive. 254 people were abducted by Hamas and dragged back into the terror tunnels they had built over the years—using money stolen from international and humanitarian aid given to the Palestinians.

This was not just an attack on Israel, but an attack on Jewish people from all over the world. Victims killed on October 7^th came from 30 countries around the world. The hostages represent 25 different nationalities. People, infuriatingly, often compare it to the September 11^th attack—calling it “Israel's 9/11.” That is a massive understatement. With context, it is more akin to an attack well over 3 0 times as large. Let's look at some numbers:

In 2001, the United States population was around 284.8 million people. Today that number is just over 346 million people. At the end of last year, Israel’s population was about 9.256 million people.

The September 11^th attack claimed about 3,000 lives that day. The October 7^th attacks claimed about 1,200 lives that day—additionally, 254 people were taken hostage by the terrorists.

In context, that means to be roughly equivalent the attack on September 11 would have had to claim at least 36,923 lives (or 44,864 adjusted for today's population size) and would have taken 6,827 hostages (or 9,496 today).

It would take more than 30 September 11-style attacks to come close.

That still doesn’t account for the fact that Israel is a small, relatively tightly-knit country —about the size of New Jersey. Most people in Israel, and more than just a few in the Jewish diaspora, know someone directly—family member, colleague, classmate, et cetera—who was a victim of terrorists on that October day. The majority of people in the United States didn’t know anyone directly impacted by the September 11^th attack.

Indeed, most of us in the US at the time watched television coverage of the attack from the safety and comfort of our homes, offices, and schools. In Israel, the civilians were forced to take cover in bomb shelters as air raid sirens sounded nearly continuously as countless drones, missiles, and rockets were trying to annihilate them. While taking shelter they were also hoping the terrorists didn't invade their houses directly—even though that was what was going on across much of the country.

On September 11^th, no civilian had to tell the military where in their house they were so the Air Force could fire a missile into the farthest portion of the house to try to take out the terrorists who were trying to tear down the door of their bomb shelter so they could be tortured and executed. On September 11^th, there was no coordinated campaign of sexual assaults being carried out on civilians across the country. No_; the comparison fails at basically any level or angle you look at it —except to say it was an unprovoked; despicable terrorist attack.

The most apt way I’ve heard it referred to— though every time I hear it; it's like a punch in the gut—is either the Second Shoah or the Second Holocaust. Indeed; October 7^th was the worst attack on Jews since the fall of Nazi Germany.

Even the international reaction was drastically different following the attacks of September 11^th and October 7^th. The United States received nearly unprecedented support from the international community in the hours, days, weeks, and months following the attack. For Israel, let’s just say, the results were somewhat different. Douglas Murray puts it this way:

After [the October 7 attacks], you would have thought that there would be some sympathy from the world—that the world would pay attention. You might have expected that there would have been a worldwide opposition to the terrorists and rapists and murders. You might have thought there would be hatred around the world erupting at the government of Qatar and its mouthpiece A1 Jazeera, for its funding of Hamas and its hosting the leadership of Hamas. But no, there was an immediate outpouring of rage against [the victim, Israel].1)

Instead of support and consolation, Israel faced protests and endured calls for support for the terrorists across the globe. This wasn't days and weeks later as Israel commenced its military campaign against the terrorist organization Hamas and its fighters. No, this happened immediately—to be extremely clear, this started while the attack was still underway in Israel online and it spread to protests and demonstrations in the real world as the world woke up—literally and figuratively—to the events of that day. In the West, campuses became unsafe for Jewish students—a status that, sadly, doesn't seem to have shifted much in the year or so since.

After the attack, Israel was forced into a self-defensive war—a war that expanded to seven distinct fronts over the past year. Iran, directly, as well as several other groups and state-sanctioned organizations: Hamas (in Gaza), Hezbollah (in Lebanon), the Houthis (in Yemen), Iraqi Shi’ite militias, terrorist factions (from Hamas, from the militant wings of the Palestinian Authority, and Islamic Jihad, and others) in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and Syrian Shi’ite militias.

Like in past conflicts, in this war, the IDF has undertaken efforts that no other military in the history of the world has undertaken to reduce civilian casualties—warning civilian populations of attacks through text messages, phone calls, flyers, and, sometimes, a so-called roof-knock. 2)

Additionally, in urban warfare, the ratio of civilians killed to enemy combatants is about 9 to 1-or about 90% of casualties are civilians in normal urban warfare. Because of Israel's extreme efforts to lower that ratio, the Gazan operations have about a 1 to 1 ratio—a feat not accomplished by any other army in similar circumstances in the history of warfare.

Yet, even when the facts don't support the claims, enemies of Israel will use classic inversion and denial to turn the narrative —baselessly accusing Israel of genocide and using human shields. The very things Hamas and its counterparts do—they use civilians to shield operatives to keep Israel from striking and their very reason to exist is that they want to wage genocide against the Jews.

Of course, this conflict has reignited debates over proportionality, civilian casualties, and the path to peace. Yet, the core issue remains the intransigence of the Palestinians, their leaders, and their allies in the Arab world to recognize Israel's right to exist and to denounce violence. Ultimately, those are the two obstacles to peace.

 

1) Douglas Murray. Munk Debate on Anti-Zionism, June 16, 2024, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto.

2) A roof knock is when a non-explosive device is dropped on the roof of a civilian building to alert its occupants that they need to evacuate before an ordinance is dropped.

 

 

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