But it was not always so. In past decades, Palestinian attacks evoked little clear sympathy for Israel. While some called the suicide bombings proof that the Middle East peace process is a failure, the world's reaction to the attacks can be seen as evidence that the process is a success, at least in securing Israel's place in the world. Israel is in a different world. We're no longer out there with the lepers.
People realize Israel is committed to peace.
The point comes into sharper focus when contrasted with the world's reaction to terrorist attacks against Israel in the 1970s. After PLO gunmen kidnapped Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 or stormed a school in the northern Israeli town of Maalot and 24 were killed, there were no international conferences, few demonstrations of support and certainly no offers of help from Arab neighbors. Now that Israel is seen as being more forthcoming, it is also seen to deserve better treatment and more sympathy. We expect other countries in the region to join us in this endeavor, a major diplomatic endeavor to see if we can't put more pressure on Hamas and make sure there's not a repetition. Israelis care deeply about how the world sees them.