October 6, 2023, the day before the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Israel seems to be at a critical turning point in gaining recognition from the Muslim world.
A memorial to the victims of the Hamas attack at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel
At that time, it was on the verge of a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia that, if successful, would be at the center of a restructured Middle East. It also seems that the historic conflict with the Palestinians, which has occupied much of Israel's 75-year history and has determined Israel's existence, is finally about to take a back seat.
A day later, that all changed. On October 7, 2023, the day now known to Israelis as the "Black Sabbath," a raid from Hamas upended Israel's sense of security and confidence in its military might. In response, it launched a violent invasion of Gaza.
Now, after six months of war, the world has changed dramatically in this small Jewish country. The Wall Street Journal commented that in the eyes of many people in the world, Israel is the aggressor and Hamas is the victim. The resulting isolation could pose a greater threat to Israel's future than Hamas's attacks that killed 1,200 people.
Israel is closer than ever to becoming a "global outcast": the Saudi peace deal has been shelved, the Palestinian issue has once again angered its Arab neighbors, Israel is at open debate with its main ally, the United States, and Israel's physical space has shrunk due to rising military threats on its north-south border.
Israeli historian Benny Morris said that this is the first time since the birth of Israel that the country's survival situation has been threatened. The only time Israel faced a similar existential threat, he said, was in the 1948 War of Independence, when it fought five Arab countries, as well as local Palestinian militias.
A family mourns in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on 4 April
Global sympathy for Israel is gradually diminishing and is being replaced by greater attention to images of hunger, cold and death among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Footage reported from around the world shows large swathes of the Gaza Strip in ruins. According to the Palestinian Health Authority, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The Israeli army has always asserted that it is not acting recklessly in Gaza, but is doing its best to protect the civilian population of Gaza while fighting Hamas. But last week, seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who were trying to feed Gazans were killed. As a result, countries and individuals who support Israel can no longer justify the Israeli army, which has also caused the United States to reconsider its support for Israel.
On 1 April, Israel attacked a vehicle in the World Central Kitchen, causing some aid work in Gaza to be suspended
Pro-Palestinian protesters poured into the streets of Western capitals, calling for Israel's demise from time to time. The surge in anti-Semitism has shocked and panicked not only Israelis, but Jews across the globe. All this reinforces a feeling within Israel that the state can only rely on itself.
So far, Israel has neither achieved its war objective, which is to rescue all the hostages held by Hamas, nor has it succeeded in driving Hamas out of Gaza.
Micah Goodman, an Israeli writer and philosopher, said Israel faced a dilemma: it wanted to be loved by the West, but it needed to make enemies in the Middle East fear it would ensure its long-term existence. "That's the dilemma we're in. ”
Efforts to free hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been at the forefront of Israel's wartime protest movement
The Wall Street Journal reported that the war has had an impact on Israel's economy and livelihood. Hundreds of thousands of reservists were forced to resign and join the war, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from their homes around Gaza and on the northern border near Lebanon. Allah in Lebanon, much more powerful than Hamas, has been fighting Israel since the war in Gaza, and the possibility of full-scale war between the two sides is growing by the day. On April 1, Israel bombed Iran's diplomatic compound in Syria, and Israel is also preparing for retaliation by Iran or its allies.
Domestically, Netanyahu's right-wing ruling coalition is once again under attack from protesters demanding new elections. Israel's wartime cabinet members are also divided over the priorities of the two war goals, the rescue of hostages and the destruction of Hamas. This disagreement has entered the public eye, deepening the feeling that the Israeli leadership is fighting for itself at the same time as it fights a war.
As the war in Gaza continues, Israelis don't know if the worst is now the worst or if it's yet to come.
(Editor: The Old Man and the Sea)