Will Israel Survive a Total Victory?

As Israel prepares to destroy the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza City, the country realizes that it has a great deal at stake. The plan for Gaza City is to root out the last vestiges of Hamas, to do its best to find the remaining hostages, to destroy the Hamas infrastructure and tunnels, and establish peace.

The biggest problem may be that the world may shun Israel as it pursues these efforts.

There are very few facts that support Israel’s dilemma, because the Hamas propaganda is overwhelming:

• Israel is committing genocide.
• Israel is starving Gazans.
• Israel doesn’t care about the survival of the hostages.
• Israel doesn’t really want to end the war.

Unfortunately, the truth is not being publicized:

• Hamas is using Palestinians as body shields.
• Hamas places armaments in schools and hospitals.
• Hamas steals the food shipments intended for civilians.
• Although several potential ceasefires have been discussed, Hamas always changes the terms and makes them impossible to enact.
• Hamas has no interest in ending the war; they are determined to destroy Israel.
• Hamas doesn’t want a Palestinian state; it wants to drive out Israel and occupy all the land.

Through all of the discussions, activities and killings, Hamas has repeatedly come out on top regarding world opinion:

As public opinion turns against Israel, it will become politically palatable — and even advantageous — for Israel’s defenders to be more outspoken in their criticisms. The more public their outcry, the less hostile their town halls will become. As a result, Israel’s government will find itself facing some nasty rhetoric. Most of the Global South already recognizes Palestine as a state. With the most recent suffering, western countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom are making moves in that direction as well. Germany, Israel’s most stalwart defender in Europe, is also wavering. As other countries follow suit, the number of countries that refuse to recognize a Palestinian state will dwindle down to a handful.

As the Gazan war continues, surveys back up the negative global opinion of Israel:

• Among the 24 countries surveyed in early 2025, the majority of respondents had a negative view of Israel (median 62%).

• Just three countries had more positive responses than negative: India, Kenya, and Nigeria.

[snip]

Türkiye reported the highest share of negative views, with 93% of respondents holding an unfavorable opinion of Israel. This includes a decisive 84% who said they view Israel ‘very unfavorably.’

International views of Israel are also quite negative throughout most of Europe and Asia, particularly in Indonesia (80% total unfavorable) and Japan (79% total unfavorable).

Reasons for these results likely include support for Palestine, anti-war attitudes, and religious solidarity. Indonesia, for example, has the world’s largest Muslim population in the world.

Even the U.S. is seeing a decline in support of Israel:

The US, long considered a staunch ally, is undergoing a notable shift as revealed by the same poll. Currently, 53% of Americans have a negative view of Israel, experiencing an 11-point increase since early 2023. Particularly intriguing is the change among young Republicans, who now reflect increased skepticism, showcasing a political and age-related realignment of views.

The Democrats in particular have increased their criticism of Israel, although they were never overwhelming in support:

The real story is the erosion of Democratic support for Israel. Contrary to popular misconception, apart from the time of the Gulf War when support peaked at 62%, most Democrats have never sympathized with Israel. The last time more than half supported Israel was in 2016 when the figure was 53%. Since then, Democrats have not just abandoned Israel but have become more sympathetic toward the Palestinians.

In 2025, just 21% of Democrats expressed sympathy for Israel, while a record 59% backed the Palestinians. Bipartisanship—once a strength of Israel’s relationship with the United States—has evaporated as Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions. Republican support, though declining from its peak of 87% in 2018, remains strong at 75%. The 54-point partisan gap is the largest ever recorded.

The most serious implications are the damage that could occur between Israel and the rest of the world. The European Union has considered reviewing its relationship with Israel:

The European Union has long struggled to have an impact on the Mideast conflict due to longstanding divisions between countries that back Israel and those seen as pro-Palestinian.

Last week, the bloc launched a review to determine whether Israel is complying with human-rights principles laid out in its association agreement with the EU — a move backed by 17 of 27 member states.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Wednesday she hopes to present options on the next steps to foreign ministers at a June 23 meeting in Brussels.

Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states — seen by diplomats as virtually unthinkable.

Berlin was among the EU capitals that opposed even reviewing the deal, as was fellow economic heavyweight Rome. Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called on Israel to end its military campaign in Gaza.

But [Julian] Barnes-Dacey, [head of the Middle East program at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)] sees ‘the possibility of a qualified majority of states imposing some restrictions’ under the trade component of the agreement.

So far, no country has adopted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, but companies and organizations have put pressure on those entities doing business with Israel:

The impact of BDS initiatives on Israel’s economy is unclear. Despite an Israeli government report that leaked in 2015 and estimated that BDS may cost the Israeli economy $1.4 billion per year, the Israeli economy has evolved to become more resilient to boycotts, according to a 2018 analysis by the Brookings Institution. Although the BDS movement takes inspiration from the sanctions movement against South African apartheid, the Brookings analysis contends that Israel’s exports are far less substitutable, consisting of high-technology goods, advanced machinery, and pharmaceuticals that are difficult or impossible to get from another source.

Israel must do a better job of educating and promoting its efforts globally to protect Palestinians, to provide them with food, and to continue to make its case for the war.

Although the alarms have been raised about Israel’s actions, no country has taken a firm step to isolate itself or damage its relationship with Israel. Threats, warnings and reproaches have been issued against Israel, but no country has abandoned them. Looking at this information carefully, it’s apparent that the world has increased its criticism of Israel. But so far, it’s mostly talk.

Let’s hope it stays that way.

[originally published in American Thinker]