SOME parables contain so much truth that they occur spontaneously across geographic and temporal divides. Take the parable of the scorpion and the frog — variously known as the tale of the scorpion and the tortoise, and even of the farmer and the viper. Its message is that one cannot escape one’s nature and it would be foolish to listen to the blandishments of a creature whose nature demands that it kills even if it dooms itself in the process. It’s the same with Israel; no matter how evident it is that its bloodthirsty ways are leading to its doom, it cannot change its ways because it is not in its nature to do so. Were it to do so, it would no longer be Israel.
It’s not entirely Israel’s fault: imagine that in your neighbourhood there lives a child whose every misdeed is excused, whose every act of budding psychopathy is swept under the rug. A child who, despite his predilection for torturing animals, is not only shielded from all consequences but is told that he is the brightest and most righteous child in the world and that the kittens he routinely murders did something to deserve it. Eventually, he’ll believe it and grow up to be a cruel, deranged, utterly entitled and narcissistic adult.
There’s a trait that all narcissists possess. It’s called transactional amnesia. Those with transactional amnesia will gauge you solely on their last interaction: it doesn’t matter how many sacrifices you have made for them, or how much support you have given them in the past, sometimes at great cost to yourself. All that matters is that you support them 100 per cent in what they do, 100pc of the time. The slightest perceived lack of support or the mildest criticism is viewed as an existential threat, an assault that must not only be defended against with all your might, but which must also invite a counter-attack.
Israel is exactly like this — hypersensitive to criticism, with even a slight rebuke leading to a hysterical and rapid devaluation of previously solid relationships, and a selective emphasis on current grievances with complete erasure of the historical support given by those who’ve dared to (even if obliquely) criticise its behaviour.
Israel’s rage against US ‘betrayal’ continues.
Take the invective against the EU’s foreign policy representative Kaja Kallas who, while she has supported Israel in the past, dared to compare it to apartheid South Africa. All favours were forgotten and Israel declared it was cutting ties with her. Similarly, with Israel working overtime to sabotage Donald Trump’s efforts to end his war against Iran (after convincing him to launch it) there came some unusual criticism from the White House. And Israelis lost their collective minds, hurling invective at J.D. Vance, America and all things American. Even in the depths of their entitlement, they avoided direct criticism of Trump knowing, perhaps, that this was a man unburdened by ideology and whose own narcissism matched their own. The rage against America’s ‘betrayal’ continues even as Trump and Vance remind the Zionist state that were it not for US support, Israel may not even exist. Logically, one would imagine that it is not a wise policy to attack those on whom your very existence depends, but a scorpion can do naught but sting. It is its nature to sting.
People are getting sick of it. In America, the bastion of Israeli support, Israel is becoming a toxic brand. As per the latest polls, an unprecedented 60pc of all US adults now hold a ‘very or somewhat unfavourable’ view of Israel. When it comes to Gen Z, the trend is even more pronounced with 75pc expressing support for Palestine over Israel and over 55pc agreeing that Israel was an apartheid state which should not receive America’s support. This trend is more pronounced among Democrats but is visible among Repub-licans too.
But because self-examination is not a trait of psychopathic narcissists, Israel and its supporters continue to cling to the increasingly tired accusation of antisemitism, while blaming hostile forces and social media for the damage to their image and not, of course, their own geno-cidal actions.
It’s backfiring. In another generation, or sooner, the bipartisan consensus that existed in the US vis-à-vis Israel will no longer exist. In another decade the decrepit Israel-firsters in the US polity — who imbibed Zionism with their mother’s milk — will be dead and buried.
In the recent New York primaries, Zohran Mamdani’s panel of anti-Israel Democrats swept the opposition. Among them was Brad Lander, a Jewish-American who calls Gaza a genocide and wants to cut off arms supplies to Israel.
Lander beat out his closest opponent, pro-Israel incumbent Dan Goldman by over 30 points in the NY-10 constituency, which is known as the ‘most Jewish district in America’.
The times are changing, but Israel simply cannot. It is not in its nature.
The writer is a journalist.
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026