Israel Should Stop Kvetching and Start Leading

Israel’s victories have reshaped the Middle East and history. The Jewish people should act like it

“One Involved in a Miracle Does Not Recognize the Miracle”

— Talmud, Niddah 31b

The Talmud teaches that a person involved in a miracle often fails to recognize it. That warning has rarely been more relevant than it is for Israel today.

As the Jewish state navigates the most strategically favorable position it has held in decades—militarily dominant, diplomatically indispensable, and regionally integrated—its media, intellectual class, and much of its political leadership behave as though they’ve been cast aside, betrayed, or abandoned.

Events haven’t triggered this latest wave of national self-doubt, but by a coordinated barrage of propaganda, spawned by Qatar, amplified by left-wing groups in the United States, and legitimized by anti-Israel voices in the media such as. the increasingly loathsome coverage of the Wall Street Journal (here’s a link to the most recent piece of crap. Do not read on a full stomach.) The narrative is clear: Israel and America are drifting apart, Israel is losing its place in the new Middle East and is being increasingly isolated in the world.

Incredibly, many Israelis have spent the last week bickering over the fact that it was Donald Trump—not Benjamin Netanyahu—who secured the release of Edan Alexander. Some see this as a snub, even a betrayal. Few acknowledge the obvious: Hamas and Qatar used the moment to drive a wedge between Jerusalem and Washington. That’s how political hostages are used—strategically, not sentimentally.

Worse still, some social media voices on the Israeli right are accusing Trump’s diplomatic engagement with the Saudis, Emiratis, and even Qatar of being no less anti-Israel than Biden’s passive-aggressive tilt toward Tehran. Some even cite Trump’s ceasefire talks with the Houthis or his success in pushing Iran to stall its uranium enrichment as signs that he’s pivoting against Israel. The loony Left insist every action short of surrendering to Hamas to release the hostages (no price is too high!) is an act of genocide.

This kind of thinking is not only unserious—it’s dangerous. It fails to grasp the fundamental strategic reality: that these deals are happening because of Israel’s strength, not despite it.

The Delusion of Victimhood in a Moment of Triumph

Too many Israelis, trapped in a codependent view of the U.S.-Israel relationship, continue to see themselves as junior partners in need of constant reassurance. But that image no longer reflects reality. Over the past two years, Israel has reshaped the regional map through a mix of military might, diplomatic acumen, and strategic clarity.

Hamas has been reduced to desperate pleas for a ceasefire. Hezbollah is rudderless, weakened by internal Lebanese collapse and held in check by Israeli deterrence. Iran, despite its bluster, is isolated—its regional proxies degraded, its deterrent credibility diminished, and its nuclear ambitions increasingly boxed in. Israel operates with impunity across Syrian and Iraqi airspace, regularly striking Iranian assets while Russian and Turkish forces look the other way.

Syria, once an Iranian proxy menace, is now lobbying for inclusion in normalization efforts—and has even begun rounding up Palestinian terrorists as part of a broader shift. Russia and Turkey, former meddlers in the Levant, have reduced their presence and interference in response to Israeli military pushback.

Trump’s recent Middle East tour focused explicitly on deepening and institutionalizing the Abraham Accords. Neither Gaza nor Hamas was mentioned in any meaningful way. Saudi Arabia issued a perfunctory statement about the two-state solution after the fact but said nothing when Trump floated the idea of resettling a million Gazans in Libya.

The point is simple: Israel has become the pivot of the Middle East, not through American charity, but through Jewish strength—military, technological, and strategic.

And yet Israel doesn’t see the miracle it is living.

Trump’s Success Was Made Possible by Israel

Let’s be clear: Trump’s diplomatic breakthroughs with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and others did not occur in a vacuum. They were made possible by Israeli achievements on the ground. The Abraham Accords were not spontaneous. They were the product of years of Israeli persistence—quiet intelligence-sharing, restrained but effective military power, and a mutual recognition among Gulf states that Israel is an indispensable partner against Iran and extremism.

These nations didn’t normalize relations with Israel because America told them to. They did it because Israel earned their respect and fear.

If anyone should feel excluded, it’s the Western think tanks, the Qatari and Soros funded academics who applaud when Israel is accued of genocide and an assort of others who promote Palestinian maximalism, who insisted that Israel’s regional integration would never happen without surrendering its capital or security. They were wrong. The miracle happened anyway. And because we are co-dependent — looking through eyes of others to determine if our course is just — many inside Israel and diaspora Jews still don’t see it.

The Warrior Ethos That Made the Miracle Possible

What’s worse, this blindness obscures one of the most critical moral truths of our time: Jewish power is not a problem—it is a precondition for regional transformation and human freedom.

Israel is not simply defending its borders. It is creating the conditions for peace and progress across the Middle East. Its strength has protected Arab governments from Iranian subversion. It has allowed for a realignment toward stability and development. And it has reminded tyrants that the age of impunity is over.

None of this would have happened had Israel clung to the illusion of victimhood. It happened because Jews were willing to become warriors—to defend not only their dream of sovereignty but the reality of it.

Too much of the West and too many Jews still romanticize Jewish powerlessness. But it is Jewish strength—not Jewish suffering—that has secured the possibility of a freer, more stable Middle East.

Lag B’Omer: Remember What We’re Celebrating

All of this makes Lag B’Omer more than timely. What began as a commemoration of Bar Kochba’s revolt has been reduced to bonfires and school picnics. But Lag B’Omer was once a revolutionary moment in Jewish consciousness. It marked the refusal to let the covenant of Sinai remain a theology of suffering. It reasserted that Jews must be active participants in their destiny, not passive recipients of divine pity.

Rabbi Akiva, who saw Bar Kochba as a potential Messiah, believed that the covenant was not just spiritual but national. He knew that Torah without sovereignty was vulnerable. He understood that God partners with a people willing to rise and fight without waiting for a Messiah.

From Gaza to Lebanon the IDF Celebrates Lag B’Omer Source: Arutz Sheva

Today, his descendants operate Iron Dome batteries, carry out cyber missions, and neutralize threats that would have wiped out Jewish sovereignty a generation ago. They are not just heirs to a legacy—they are the living fulfillment of it.

Stop Kvetching. Start Leading.

So what should Israel’s leaders do? I am loathe to dispense advice about what to do but feel a bit more comfortable suggesting how they should act.

Stop crying about being left out. Stop mistaking every photo-op that doesn’t include Israel as a betrayal. Stop judging strength by the warmth of an American press release. Start owning the miracle.

Israel’s government should be shaping the future, not begging for inclusion in someone else’s announcement. If the worst happens—if American politics veers away from us—our response should be determination, not despair. Turn to allies in Congress, activate public opinion, and project strength. Don’t wait for validation. Lead.

The Miracle Is Ours to Sustain

Yes, the miracle is fragile. Yes, enemies remain. Yes, mistakes have been made. But the arc of Jewish history has turned. We are no longer wandering. We are home. We are no longer pleading. We are leading. We are no longer victims. We are authors of our future.

The Talmud’s warning is not fatalistic. It’s a challenge. If we are living through a miracle, we must choose to recognize it—and rise to meet it.

Let this Lag B’Omer be the turning point where we reject confusion and choose confidence. Let us abandon grievance and embrace greatness. The miracle has happened. Now we must live like we know it.