The Meaning of October 7

The second anniversary of the attacks of October 7, 2023, is a moment to mark the resolve of Israel — as well as that, alas, of her enemies. Both have been in ample evidence since Hamas streamed across the border of the Jewish state and murdered 1,200 people and took some 250 hostage. What has really shocked us across the last 24 months is the collapse of the European democracies in the face of antisemitism. It is a baleful development for the West.The longest war in Israel’s history was begun — and continues — because of Hamas’s determination to destroy the Jewish state. Israel is winning that war, though, because of the Israel Defense Forces. And, dare we say, the resolve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has since delivered just deserts to Hassan Nasrallah, Ismail Haniyeh, the Sinwar brothers, and platoons of terrorists. Bashar al-Assad is at Moscow, and Tehran is smarting.The collapse of Iran’s so-called ring of fire is a boon not only to Israel but to the world. Instead of thanks, though, the globe — or much of it, anyway — has turned on Israel with ferocious force. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and his erstwhile defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Antisemitism has exploded, with its first eruptions preceding Israel’s response. Hamas’s holding of hostages has extended the war.Moral inversion has transpired not only on the streets but also in the gilded halls of power. One European grandee after another has swung behind the notion of a state for the Palestinian Arabs even as Israel’s hostages languish in Gaza’s dungeons. One of those, Great Britain, on Yom Kippur, witnessed a terrorist assault on a synagogue at Manchester. Britain’s former foreign minister, David Lammy, was jeered at a memorial by British Jews.Nigh every day brings a demonstration of Jews being blamed for the war being waged against them, even though Israel’s foes are also the sworn enemies of the European countries that indulge their hateful protests. Nor is Europe alone in its complicity. Early support by President Biden for Israel’s war against Hamas has yielded to a rush by the Democrats to heap opprobrium on the Jewish state. Senator Bernie Sanders’s hostility is now his party’s mainstream.Israel, meanwhile, has never wavered in its determination to do what needs to be done. Its reservists have served for thousands of days. Hundreds of its soldiers have been killed in action, working to defeat the scourge of Hamas. Its soaring stock market suggests that investors know that the Jewish state, war-locked though it might be, is a good bet because its underlying fundamentals — people, values, cause, liberty — are sterling.President Trump’s dispatch of B-2 bombers to Fordow and Natanz will be seen, along with Israel’s pager operation and other military triumphs, as an indelible moment in the war. Now, though, he is pushing for peace. Israel is supportive, but Hamas appears to be prevaricating in a bid to cling to power. If Mr. Trump can seal a deal that also secures Israel’s victory, he will have fully deserved a Nobel Peace Prize, if not the one to be announced Friday.The unmasking of the world’s hostility to Israel — blaming the victim, taken to new heights — could sow the seeds for a new generation of leaders, in Europe and elsewhere, who grasp that their own countries and cultures are now in danger. A destructive force has been let loose that will not soon or easily be contained. October 7 was a day of tragedy in Israel, but also a reminder of resilience. And of the fact that it advanced when it relied on its own judgment.

The Meaning of October 7

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