If there is, from Israel’s point of view, a silver lining in the growing threat of radical Islam, as manifested both in the Iranian nuclear program and the ascendancy of Hamas in Palestinian society, it is that the world, and Europe in particular, is beginning to see Israel in a different light because of it. For the first time in years, there is a glimmer of a possibility that Israel will again come to be viewed, as it was at the height of the Cold War, as a genuine part of the West and an asset to it.

In this sense, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done Israel a favor by his behavior, and especially, by his recent pronouncements on the non-existence of the Holocaust and the need to wipe the Jewish state from the map. If one were to come across such pronouncements in an Internet blog, one would put them down to the ravings of a deranged anti-Semite. But Mr. Ahmadinejad, although he indeed does not appear to be fond of Jews, is not, as an individual, deranged in the least. He is a perfectly normal representative of a deranged religious culture that has hundreds of millions of adherent and sympathizers in dozens of country.

This is why there is no comparison between Iran and, say, North Korea. Kim Il Jong is truly a madman and his regime does not represent anyone or anything beyond its own interest in surviving. When it crumbles, as it sooner or later will, no one will mourn for it apart from its own rulers and apparatchiks.

But Iran is something else. All the anger and bile and self-righteousness of an Islamic world that has never forgiven the West for besting it are concentrated in its current leadership. As long as such emotions are those of the weak, their ability to inflict damage is limited. When they belong to leaders in possession of vast oil fields and nuclear weapons, they become very dangerous.

It is a good thing that Europe is beginning to understand this, although whether it will do so quickly enough remains to be seen. Until now it has preferred not to understand it – which, given its commercial interests in Iran and its extreme aversion to military action anywhere, is not surprising. If there is any point to the comparison between Nazi Germany and today’s Iran, it is that, back in the 1930s, the world refused to grasp that heads of state who are in the grip of an anti-Semitic delirium cannot be expected to act rationally in other areas either, because rabid anti-Semitism is a sign of a general disturbance of thought. For reminding the world of this, Mr. Ahmadinejad deserves Israel’s gratitude.

So, in its way, does Hamas. Whether it wins or loses this week’s Palestinian elections, gets 40 or only 30 percent of the vote, is beside the point. So are the polls claiming to show that many Palestinians who intend to vote for Hamas also say they want peace with Israel. You cannot cast your vote for a party that takes the Koran as its political platform, runs a terrorist wing on the side, and calls Jews “monkeys and apes,” and think rationally about making peace, and no Palestinian government will be able to ignore Hamas from now on. Hamas’ strong showing at the polls this week will, one assumes, change the minds of at least some European politicians who were convinced by Yasser Arafat’s pistol-and-olive-branch doubletalk that the Palestinians were ready for peace. They aren’t, not on any realistic terms that Israel can live with.

There are signs that an awareness of all this is beginning to sink in even in European countries in which anti-Israel prejudice has been strong. It is not that anyone is about to renew the love affair with Israel that much of Europe had before the Six Day War. Yet at least there is more appreciation today of what Israel is up against – as well as of the fact that Europe, which has its own domestic problems with Muslim fundamentalism, is up against many of the same things.

Changes in Israeli policy, of course, have also helped this process along. Although this was hardly the purpose of it, the disengagement from Gaza demonstrated not only that Israel is prepared to withdraw from much of the disputed territories in order to avoid continuing to rule militarily over their inhabitants, but also, that in Israel, as opposed to the Islamic world, a predominantly secular society is far stronger that the religious fundamentalists living in its midst. This, too, is a lesson that was not lost on Europe.

It is perhaps too early to speak of an Israeli-European rapprochement, but it is not too early to think of it. As long as it has the United States, Israel can get along with a minimum of political support in Europe even if it would like to have more. But the U.S., too, is a country with continually shifting political interests and cannot be counted on always to remain as pro-Israel as it is today,and Israel’s current dependence on it is unhealthy.

Despite Israelis’ admiration for things American, Israel is in many ways to this day far more of a European- than an American-style country in its way of doing and thinking about things. It trades more with Europe, it travels more to Europe, and deep down, for all its disappointment with and cynicism about Europe, it craves Europe’s approbation and respect. It is nice to imagine that it is beginning to win back a little of it. Monsieur Ahmadinejad, et vous aussi les bons gens de Hamas, merci beaucoup!

Mr. Halkin is a contributing editor of The New York Sun.