Diaspora Jews Must Understand: Israelis Are Living in a Bubble of Denial
Most Israelis simply don't see what we, Jews in the diaspora, see every day. The result is a growing disconnect between Jews inside and outside the country ahead of the October 27 election
"What you see from here is not what you see from over there" is a well-known phrase in Israeli politics, most famously used by Ariel Sharon in 2004 to explain why he, a lifelong supporter of Israeli settlements, had decided to withdraw from the Gaza Strip after becoming Prime Minister. That very phrase can be used today to explain the dissonance between what most Israelis seem to see from inside their country and what Jews in the diaspora, like myself, see from outside.
Three major facts come to mind that suggest most Israelis live in a bubble.
The first one is the root cause of Israel's unprecedented isolation in the world. Since the Netanyahu government's vengeful war in Gaza began, the dominant view inside Israel has been that diplomatic condemnations and relentless anti-war demonstrations around the world are simply a new iteration of age-old antisemitism.
It's true that some of the protests we've seen since October 7 clearly crossed the line and adopted shameless antisemitism. Yet looking at this movement from the outside also makes it clear that antisemitism has been a sideshow alongside the genuine revulsion stirred by Israel's indiscriminate massacre of civilians in Gaza. It's clear why this is difficult to contemplate for many Israelis, but blindness to an unpleasant fact doesn't make it go away.
In Israel, an often-heard argument regarding what Israelis see as the world's strange fixation on Gaza is the double-standard accusation: why all the focus on Israel when other countries also conduct wars that kill multitudes of civilians? Seen from the outside, the focus on Israel may also mean that until the recent past, most governments had higher moral expectations of Israel than of the standard mass-murdering dictatorship. But perhaps not any longer.
The second fact attesting that many Israelis live in a bubble relates to U.S. support for their country. An overwhelming majority of Israelis celebrated Donald Trump's reelection as if he were going to be Israel's savior, and indeed eternal credit is due to him for achieving the release of the remaining hostages and imposing on Netanyahu a faulty ceasefire in Gaza.
But it should have been obvious to Israelis, including Netanyahu, that Trump would also be ready to throw Israel under the bus if his own interests necessitated such action. American allies in Europe, North America and Asia understood this right from the start, but Israelis have been slower to come to terms with this reality. In the meantime, under Netanyahu, Israel has all but lost its sovereignty in matters of national security.
The final fact is Israel's addiction to war. This involves more than Netanyahu, who has turned constant war into a recipe for remaining in power after October 7. Too many Israelis have come to believe that endless and aimless war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others is the only acceptable response to Israel's new reality. Pursuing unwinnable "forever wars" doesn't ensure Israel's security; it will only jeopardize the country in the long run.
Seen from the outside, these existential issues don't seem to be a matter of debate in the upcoming Israeli election. Yet any opposition candidate who avoids bringing them to the fore for fear of alienating voters does a great disservice to Israelis, and to Jews around the world. Many Jews in the diaspora see that, as does a minority of Israelis. But for the most part, the bubble endures, and what can be seen from here, outside, can't be seen from there, inside.
Corinne Mellul teaches political science and international relations at Sciences Po.