For decades, the West has provided Israel with an impenetrable shield. This backing reached a zenith after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The aftermath has laid bare the moral bankruptcy of the “rules-based international order”.

The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others rushed to Israel’s defence – not diplomatically, but militarily, politically and rhetorically. This support ranged from arms sales, intelligence-sharing, and diplomatic cover at international forums, to the complicit silence of Western governments even as Israeli bombs flattened schools, hospitals and entire neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip.

The mainstream Western media, for its part, has served less as a watchdog and more as a megaphone for Israeli state propaganda. It has parroted the language of “self-defence”, framing Israel’s military campaign as a justified response to terrorism and willfully ignoring both the context of a 75-year colonial occupation and the ongoing subjugation of millions of Palestinians.

The repeated use of euphemisms has allowed the West to mask the grotesque reality of what is unfolding in Gaza: not a war against Hamas, but a sustained, systematic assault on an imprisoned civilian population.

Palestinians wait for food at a distribution point in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip on June 2. Credit: AFP.

What the West has refused to acknowledge – until now – is that Israel’s conduct is not exceptional, it is consistent. Since October 7, 2023, nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed. Entire families have been wiped off the civil registry. Israel has intentionally targeted civilian infrastructure, enforced a medieval siege on food, water and fuel, and repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements, including the one brokered in January.

In the West Bank, where there is no Hamas, Israeli forces have accelerated illegal settlement expansion and committed extrajudicial killings with impunity. Israel’s policies, which amount to apartheid under international law, are not incidental but integral to its occupation.

Now, the mask is slipping. The gut-wrenching images emerging every day from Gaza – the charred remains of children, mass graves in hospitals, starving infants clinging to life – can no longer be explained away as unfortunate collateral damage. The once unshakeable Western consensus around Israel is beginning to crack and global public opinion, particularly in the West, is shifting.

A girl cradles a cat as she stands along a road being used by displaced people fleeing from Khan Yunis westwards to al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip on June 3. Credit: AFP.

This shift is not just rhetorical. Prominent voices, once unwavering in their defence of Israel, are reconsidering their positions. British journalist Piers Morgan, long seen as a vocal supporter of Israel’s actions, has publicly acknowledged the mass suffering in Gaza and questioned the proportionality and morality of Israel’s campaign. In an era of dogged polarisation, such reversals are not insignificant.

Even more telling are the recent statements from Western governments that have until now remained staunchly pro-Israel. The United Kingdom, France and Canada – all allies who have previously shielded Israel from accountability – have now expressed that they are “horrified” by the military escalation in Gaza. They have warned of “concrete actions” should Israel continue its offensive and block humanitarian aid. They have condemned the “abhorrent language” of Israeli officials like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has openly advocated for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Such statements mark an unprecedented diplomatic rebuke of Israeli policy by its closest allies.

Perhaps the most damning indictment comes from within Israel itself. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, hardly a dove by any measure, has labelled the Gaza campaign a war crime. “Thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed,” he wrote. “This is now a private political war. Its immediate result is the transformation of Gaza into a humanitarian disaster area.” When former Israeli leaders speak in such stark terms, the world must take note.

The academic community, too, is weighing in with unprecedented clarity. An investigation by Dutch newspaper NRC has revealed that a growing number of leading genocide scholars now believe Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the criteria for genocide. Seven internationally recognised Holocaust and genocide experts – from countries including Israel – have stated that Israel’s military campaign is genocidal in nature. This is not mere hyperbole but the studied conclusion of those who have spent their lives analysing and preventing such atrocities.

Public opinion is also shifting.

According to the latest polling conducted by the UK-based YouGov in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, “public support and sympathy for Israel have reached their lowest ebb in Western Europe”. Overall, only 13%-21% in any of the surveyed countries have a favourable opinion of Israel, in contrast to 63%-70% who have an unfavourable view. On the specific question of Israel’s response to Hamas’s attack, only 6–16% believed it was proportionate.

Most critically, public opinion is shifting in the United States, Israel’s most steadfast ally and primary enabler. According to a Pew Research Center poll released in April, over half of American adults now view Israel unfavourably – a dramatic increase of over 10% in just a year. A separate poll by Data for Progress found that 76% of US voters support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and 51% believe President Donald Trump should demand one. These are not fringe views but reflect a mainstream disillusionment with the narrative that has long dominated Western discourse.

Yet, despite the growing condemnation, Israel’s campaign shows no signs of slowing. Why? Because the one thing that has not yet changed is bipartisan support from America’s political leadership for Israel.

On June 4, the US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, even as all other members of the council voted in favour.

The US’s fifth such veto must be seen in light of former State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller – the face of the United States’s faithful endorsement of Israel under former president Joe Biden – admitting in an interview that Israeli forces have “without a doubt” committed war crimes in Gaza. As long as the United States continues to fund, arm, and politically shield Israel, Tel Aviv will proceed with impunity.

The time for condemnations is over. Expressions of horror and sorrow do not feed the hungry, heal the wounded or bring back the dead. Western allies, especially the US, UK and EU, must act. That means an immediate end to arms sales to Israel, the imposition of sanctions, the enforcement of international law and an unequivocal demand for a permanent ceasefire.

It means lifting the siege on Gaza and committing resources to rebuild what has been destroyed. If they fail to act now, Western governments will forever bear the stain of complicity. History will remember not just what Israel has done, but who enabled it.

Vishal R Choradiya is an assistant professor with the Department of Professional Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru.