Israel and Hamas are presently engaged in a fierce battle, with the Jewish nation retaliating against Hamas’ hostile actions. Traditionally, whenever Israel and Hamas crossed swords, the Western liberal world and the Arab nations used to condemn the Jewish nation. Even India had a tendency to support Palestine, as against Israel. Yet, this time around, many of Israel’s allies have condemned Hamas. Others who have condemned it have done so as a mere formality.
So, what has changed in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict? After all, US President Joe Biden is himself believed to be a pro-Palestine President. Influential, far-left Democrats in the US openly encourage antisemitism. Biden’s anti-Israel policies are actually responsible for emboldening Hamas, which ignited the latest round of escalation. Presently, Biden has been tacitly supporting Palestine, while giving a cold shoulder to Israel. Yet, the US allies keep supporting it, courtesy of former US President Donald Trump.
At the outset, Trump managed to make the Jewish nation much more powerful and influential in the Middle East region with the ‘Abraham Accords’. These peace agreements brokered between the Arab nations and Israel have permanently changed the region. Earlier, when Israel and Hamas or other groups in Palestine shared hostilities, the Arabs used to rise in support of the Palestinian cause. For the Saudi-led Arab nations, Israel used to be an enemy.
However, with the Abraham Accords, Israel has become an ally for the Arab world. While countries like the UAE and Bahrain have not officially abandoned Palestine, they no longer carry the same level of emotional attachment for the Palestinian cause.
Therefore, Arab countries that signed Abraham Accords last year- the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, have formally shown support for Palestine this time around, but they are not exactly doing anything. Even their support to Palestine is not based on any loyalty towards the Palestinian cause, rather they feel compelled to do so because Hamas claims that it targeted Israel in order to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Now, Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound are emotive issues in the Muslim world. And the Saudi-led Arabs being the undisputed leaders of the Islamic world feel pressured to speak about the issue. Make no mistake, Hamas doesn’t command any respect in the Sunni Arab world and whatever the Arab countries say about the present Israel-Gaza conflict has more to do with religion, than with diplomacy or foreign relations.
Yet, the Jewish nation can afford to stay relieved. Rest assured, the Arab nations are unlikely to go too hard against the Jewish nation over the recent hostilities between Israel Defense Forces and Hamas.
Even outside the Arab world, Israel is not facing much pressure. Again, it was Trump who had started slamming the tendency of United Nations bodies to keep passing resolutions against Israel over the Israel-Palestine conflict. Trump started supporting the Jewish nation at global forums, while also nudging US allies to give up their Palestine bias and embrace Israel.
Therefore, Germany and France too have come out supporting Israel and its right to defend itself in face of hostile actions by Gaza-based Hamas. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert denounced the adverse actions by Hamas against it.
Seibert said, “This violence cannot be justified by anything. Israel has the right to defend itself against these attacks within the framework of self-defense.”
France, on the other hand, banned a pro-Palestine rally which was scheduled to take place on Saturday. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, “I have asked the Paris police chief to ban the protests on Saturday linked to the recent tensions in the Middle East.”
So, France is avoiding any protests on its soil which can mobilise adverse sentiment against the Jewish nation. The level of support that Israel is getting from Berlin and Paris is indeed unprecedented.
In the Indo-Pacific too, US allies – India and Japan, have stood by the Jewish nation. Meanwhile, Australia, another US ally in the region, too has avoided any anti-Israel gestures from its soil.
India has denounced “all acts of violence,” but specifically the “rocket attacks from Gaza” that started it all. On the other hand, the Japanese State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama tweeted in unequivocal support of Israel. Nakayama said, “Who fired rockets against ordinary citizens first? Our hearts are with Israel.”
In Australia, the police arrested a woman for allegedly burning Israel’s flag during protests in Sydney. Later, Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a stern warning and urged his countrymen not to “import” the Middle East conflict down under. Morrison said, “We do not want to import the troubles of other parts of the world into this country.”
There was a time when the world used to oppose Israel and the US stood by it. Today, Biden opposes it tacitly but US allies support it, as a necessary consequence of former President Donald Trump’s unequivocal support to Israel.
