In every sport played with a ball, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey (the puck counts), golf, volleyball, handball, the oldest piece of coaching wisdom is also the best: “keep your eye on the ball.” Look away for a moment, and the game slips through your fingers.

Is Israel keeping its eye on the ball? Sadly, no. And the ball here is not hard to spot. It is the war. Israel is fighting Iran and its three proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and a nation in that position has precisely one thing to watch. Yet, its gaze keeps wandering off.