Apocalypse Maybe Later

I think it may now be winding down, but for weeks, people have been speaking of the conflict in Gaza as if it were the start of World War III.

I think the opposite. Hamas is not a serious military force; this is nothing like as serious as the Six Day War, or the Yom Kippur War, when substantial Arab armies were arrayed against the Jewish state. The very barbarity of the initial attack smells of desperation: like a tantrum. Knowing they have lost the support of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, all that is left is an attempt to, improbably, horrify Israel into surrender. And we can be sure no major Arab state is going to enter the fray.

There is a feeling of apocalypse in the air, and so every hiccup is taken as a cosmic death rattle. The end may be nigh, but not because of events in Gaza.