Just a few days ago, Israel seemed to have been abandoned and scorned by nearly every country on the face of the earth. The United States had no problem criticizing how the war was being prosecuted, more and more European nations were calling for an immediate ceasefire, Jordan had refused to help us in any way by allowing Gazans entrance into their borders, and the goodwill of almost everyone had evaporated into thin air, making us feel as if we were all alone.
As the news began to come in, advising that, within 48 hours, we would be attacked by Iran, then quickly adjusted to reflect a much earlier offensive, predicting an early morning attack, just after midnight Saturday. It was almost impossible to keep up with the flurry of updates sent to our phones once the news broke that Iran had launched scores of drones in our direction. Of course, friends from around the world, hearing the shocking news, began to call and send messages, concerned by what they were hearing.
The news even got bleaker as we were informed that the Houthis also had launched their own drones. But that wasn’t all. We finally got word that Iranian rockets were also in mid-air, making their way toward our military bases and other sensitive targets.
Before long, it felt as if, this time, they were going for the jugular – attempting to overwhelm our Iron Dome System by the estimated 400-500 drones that were scheduled to enter Israeli airspace by 2 a.m. The feeling was one of doomsday proportions, as we awaited what seemed like a dress rehearsal for the Armageddon we have all heard about since childhood.
Was it finally here? Would this be the moment that Israel would be attacked on multiple fronts in the fight for her survival? And would God come through as He has always promised?
Then something happened that changed everything. At the same time that we were relying on our own air force, our soldiers, and our readiness, in complete contrast to October 7, when we were woefully unprepared, an unpredictable and surprising development occurred that made it clear that we were not alone at all.
Unexpectedly, we got help from Amman, whose jets intercepted a significant number of drones as they flew in the direction of Israel. It wasn’t just Jordan who decided to show up for the night show, the United Kingdom also stepped up to the plate by using their Royal Air Force jets to do the job. France also got into the mix, assisting with their advanced technological systems as we took out oncoming hostile aircraft.
Joining these nations, in a show of solidarity, strong condemnation against Iran was voiced by: President Joe Biden, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, European Council President Charles Michel, Spanish Minister Pedro Sanchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, Czech Republic Foreign Ministry, Columbia’s President Gustavo Petro, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Paraguay’s President Santiago Pena, Chile’s Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren, and Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.
This impressive “Who’s Who” of world leaders and nations includes a long roster of many who, only days ago, had no sympathies for Israel and could only view the conflict through the lens of needy Gazans, whose suffering they accused us of intensifying by not doing enough to meet their needs.
The distorted picture was one of Israel as the oppressor and Gazan civilians, undoubtedly embedded with many Hamas operatives, as the helpless victims.
That onerous characterization earned us the disdain and contempt of most of the world’s countries, along with some of their citizens, as well as institutions such as the United Nations and the EU. We had been derided, polarized, and rejected for the vile image problem which we were unable to shake, no matter what we did to prove our virtue.
So why did some of those same nations come to our assistance? What changed, within hours, to cause them to consider that we were suddenly beneficial or of some value, worthy of saving?
A universe without Israel is a frightening place
It has to be that the revelation of a universe with no Israel constitutes the most frightening place, which no one was prepared to contemplate.
Although they may say otherwise, everyone knows that our world is presently embroiled in a conflict of good vs evil – civilized people vs depraved monsters. The problem is that they have not had to come face-to-face with the enemy in a real combat zone. That dirty job was reserved solely for Israel, the only ones equipped psychologically, mentally, militarily, spiritually, and geographically since we are located in the midst of the terrorists’ enclave.
Remove the Jewish state from the mix, and you are suddenly left with the breaching of levees and floodgates, leaving the world vulnerable to the deluge of evil overtaking their borders as a tidal wave of terrorism reaches their shores.
It’s not easy for these nations and peoples to candidly admit that Israel is their firewall, doing the heavy lifting that they neither want to nor are able to pull off. This is the reason that those who bitterly criticized Israel, throwing mud on its good name, knew that coming to its aid was not just a way to save the Jewish homeland, but more of an attempt to save themselves, because as hypocritical as they sometimes can be, they also know that this fight is spilling over onto them.
Of course, Israel welcomes and values the help that we received because, together, we have prevented a potential disaster of seismic proportions, not to mention collectively sending a strong and unequivocal message to a taunting enemy that has, for years, called for the death of Israel and America and would, undoubtedly, soon add other civilized nations as well. So, the truth came out, and with that truth, acts of self-preservation in order to make sure that we all lived to see another day.
Israel, in a flash, went from being the bad guy to being the underdog that everyone wanted to save.
However, we are not naïve enough to believe that we will remain in that role because, much to our regret, sympathy for Israel has a very short shelf life. But we can enjoy the support while it lasts because it likely won’t be long before we find ourselves back in the doghouse.
They say that God’s ways are mysterious, and perhaps that accounts for the sudden change of heart that many experienced when inexplicably, they saw the light which can clearly be attributed to yet another divine intervention in the Promised Land.
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is also the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs.