Israel has been turned into a pariah nation.
Countries once considered to be friends of the Jewish State now shun her.
Universities that once welcomed her academics now slam their doors shut. Throughout the world, organizations boycott Israel.
Israeli creativity, in the arts, in medicine, in science, in music is turned away by forums, festivals and faculties.
And why?
Because on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas chose to mass murder Israelis, to burn Israeli babies, to mutilate Israeli bodies, to sexually abuse Israeli women and men, to destroy Israeli homes and agricultural fields to kidnap, torture and starve innocent men, women, and children.
Because Hamas chose to engage in barbarous acts, because Hamas chose to engage in heinous crimes against their neighbor, Israel is being booted out by the Western world.
But here is a certain truth!
Israel and Israelis are extremely creative.
Despite being shunned by the global community, Israel continues to create, to prosper and to come to the aid of those in need.
Certain faculties may be closed to Israelis.
But their university colleagues come to visit. Investors pour into Israel despite the world labelling them a pariah. And the creative momentum in Israel has not been squelched.
Israel is hurting, but Israelis know that they are doing the right thing, they are doing the only thing they can do.
Israelis believe — as many believe — that Israel is correct in her actions.
That they are morally and ethically correct — not just justified but correct in destroying Hamas. Unfortunately, people, societies and nations once thought to be moral, now feel comfortable embracing that which is wrong.
So be it.
Let others embrace the devil — but not Israel.
Israel will do what it has always done — offer comfort and aid where it is needed. No other nation in the history of war has ever fed the wartime citizenry of its enemy. Israel does.
It is part and parcel of Israeli history.
In 1977 thousands and thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian citizens fleeing from lives of tyranny under the Communist Regime had no place to go and were left afloat at sea. They were labeled "The Boat People."
On June 10th, 1977, the "Yuvali," an Israeli freighter on route to Taiwan, spotted 66 half-starved and sickened Vietnamese.
Even though the freighter carried only enough life rafts and jackets for its 30-member crew, Captain Meir Tadmor contacted Haifa for permission to take them aboard.
Permission was granted and they were all taken aboard.
No port was willing to accept the starving men, women, and children.
Captain Tadmor made an unscheduled stop in Hong Kong for desperately needed medical attention; authorities in the British crown colony refused to allow them ashore.
Equally inhospitable were authorities in Taiwan who prevented anyone from getting off the Israeli ship. The refugees received a similarly cold reception at Yokohama, Japan.
Menachem Begin's first act as Israeli prime minister was to offer asylum to all 66 Vietnamese. Only then did Taiwan allow the group to come ashore, and then they were quickly brought to Sung Shan Airport for a flight to Israel.
As Begin explained to then — U.S. President Jimmy Carter, "We never have forgotten the boat with 900 [937] Jews [the St. Louis], having left Germany in the last weeks before the Second World War. . . traveling from harbor to harbor, from country to country, crying out for refuge.
"They were refused. . . Therefore, it was natural. . . to give those people a haven in the land of Israel."
Prime Minister Begin was being bitingly sharp with President Carter.
After the SS St Louis was denied entry to Havana the ship, with it 937 Jewish, refugees slowly sailed toward Miami. FDR and his State Department were besieged with urgent requests to take in the Jews.
The Jews were so close to Miami that they could easily see the lights.
The ship was turned back and returned to Europe.
To this day, those images are indelibly etched into the psyche of the Jewish People, especially of Israeli leaders.
Non-governmental organizations in Israel abound.
There is IsraAid, the Israeli Forum for International Aid.
There is First, the Fast Israel Rescue and Search Teams.
And IFA, Israeli Flying Aid and ZAKA, Israel’s volunteer search, rescue and recovery unit.
And there's SACH, Save a Child's Heart Sach, and LATET (which means to give in Hebrew.
- That's what Israel is.
- That's what Israel does.
- That's what Israelis do so well.
- That's why they are world experts.
Who can forget the images of Israeli search teams digging out the bodies and the rubble in the aftermath of the apartment collapse in Surfside, Florida in 2021.
As much as Israel is suffering from her own losses on Oct. 7, 2023, as severe as that blow was, Israel carries on with her moral and ethical obligation to help others.
Since that horrific day, Israel has been involved in three significant humanitarian aid efforts. An earthquake response in Thailand in March of 2025, fighting wildfires in Cyprus in July of 2025 and in delivering safety and medical aid to the Druze in al Sweida, Syria, in July of 2025.
Israel does what is right, not what is popular in the eyes of the worlds.
As the world sits and watches, Israel acts.
In the end, it is the world that will suffer for having turned their back of Israel, the Jewish state.
Micah Halpern is a political and foreign affairs commentator. He founded "The Micah Report" and hosts "Thinking Out Loud with Micah Halpern," a weekly TV program, and "My Chopp," a daily radio spot. Follow him on Twitter @MicahHalpern. Read Micah Halpern's Reports — More Here.
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