Israel celebrated its 78th Independence Day on 22 April under conditions that underscore how dramatically the country's circumstances have changed since its founding in 1948. Traditional festivities — barbecues in parks and gardens, ceremonies on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl — went ahead as planned, but for the third consecutive year, the customary military flyover above Israel's major cities was cancelled. The warplanes are needed elsewhere: engaged in ongoing conflicts with Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in Gaza. It is a small but telling symbol of a nation caught in what observers describe as an exhausting, seemingly endless cycle of war and ceasefire.

The mood is shadowed further by a deepening sense that Israel's strategic autonomy has been quietly eroding. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staked much political capital on the alliance with the United States under President Donald Trump, portraying it as a historic achievement. Yet in practice, critics note, key decisions — from ceasefire negotiations with Iran to the pace of operations in Lebanon — have increasingly been made in Washington rather than Jerusalem. Trump's installation of a so-called