Two weeks after Hamas' monstrous attack, the war is still Item no. 1 on the world's agenda, and for good reason.
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We in Israel focus on lifting the threat that we face, of course, but abroad the war is triggering domestic demonstrations and sometimes even riots. Western countries that have concentrations of migrants from Arab states, and Muslim states around the world, are especially sensitive. Even if they don't admit it, they are all afraid of the violent eruption of radical Islam that is unfolding under Hamas' influence. This makes our war a domestic interest of their own.
In the US, Jewish institutions have been placed under stronger protection due to threats and demonstrations in support of genocide in most large American cities. In Berlin, synagogues have been attacked and Hamas supporters have demonstrated so tumultuously that the police now forbid any manifestation of identification with the terror organization.
In the UK, apart from street protests, the BBC has tumbled into a public furor. A synagogue has been torched in Tunisia and demonstrations have taken place in other Arab states. This is but a partial account of domestic unrest around the globe.
"Various threats"
Transcending the domestic challenges as time passes, however, are the rising waves of blowback from the war that are affecting the international order. The first practical manifestation of this occurred last Thursday night when an American destroyer intercepted missiles and drones that the Houthis in Yemen – Iran's lackeys, of course – launched at Israel. It was not America's last intervention in the war and it took place in the Red Sea, far from Israel's borders. Iran is plainly trying to drag America into a confrontation by force and is also provoking Washington by attacking US bases in Syria and Iraq. Eventually, the US will respond.
The global implications, however, ascend one tier higher. In his policy address on Thursday pre-dawn (Israel time), President Biden sketched a new global map composed of a team of good guys – Israel, Ukraine, and the other democracies – on one side and a bad team – Russia, Iran, Hamas, and North Korea – on the other. (Surprisingly, China was left off the list.)
Central in Biden's speech was a full equation of Russia – the West's bitter enemy since last January – with Hamas, the West's new enemy from October 7 on. Hamas, à la Biden, is "pure, unadulterated evil." Equally, "We've have not forgotten the mass graves, the bodies found bearing signs of torture, rape used as a weapon by the Russians, and thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken into Russia, stolen from their parents. It's sick." So spoke the American president.
Video: Reuters / Israeli firefighters attempt to put out fires after rockets fired from Gaza
Then Biden explained the link: "Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy – completely annihilate it." Such rhetoric gives Israel the continued moral backing it needs to do what it must – apparently long-term backing, since the war Ukraine has lasted twenty months with no end in sight.
Rhetoric that reverberates
But morality is not the only thing at stake. "Making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed," Biden continued, "is vital for America's national security." This is a powerful and binding statement. It means that we will fight our war but, as Biden said many times, he simply will not allow us to lose. When the president of the world's greatest power – and the leader of the Western world – takes such a stance, it means that the entire West will fall into line, as we are seeing as the leaders of European states visit Israel one after another.
Incidentally, Biden's resounding remarks came with a check attached. In a cunning political maneuver, Biden sent Congress a request to approve a single package of aid in the sum of $100 billion for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific region (meaning Taiwan), and the US–Mexican border. This mingling of matters was meant to push his Republican rivals into a corner. But what matters for our interest is the $14 billion that Israel is supposed to receive.
Bottom line: the war on Hamas is more than an Israeli interest and more than a Mideast interest; it's a conflict of global impact, part of a new order that will probably emerge with clarity only in the future.
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