Every year on the fast day of Tisha B’Av, which this year will be marked next Thursday, millions of Jews read the Book of Lamentations to mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples. What is often overlooked is that the book repeatedly links Judea’s national catastrophe not only to military defeat and human suffering, but also to the loss of allies and international standing, which in today’s language may be described as “diplomatic isolation.”
The theme appears in the very first verse: “How lonely sits the city once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow; she who was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal” (Lamentations 1:1).
The opening image is not merely one of grief. It contrasts Jerusalem’s former prestige among the nations with its subsequent abandonment. A kingdom that had recently enjoyed influence and status found itself isolated and subjugated to others.
Jewish tradition attributes Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah, who was persecuted in part because he warned against relying on Egypt. In his view, it was Babylon that would determine Judea’s fate, and rebellion was doomed. The political leadership dismissed unwelcome criticism and reassured the people that under their guidance, everything would be fine.
History proved Jeremiah right. In 586 BCE, Babylon destroyed the First Temple, devastated the Kingdom of Judea, and sent much of its population into exile.
Scholars debate both the authorship and the precise date of Lamentations, although it is generally associated with that period. Among its most harrowing passages are those describing mothers consuming their own children during the siege. These verses portray not only starvation but the utter collapse of hope and humanity.
Alongside vivid descriptions of personal and national suffering, Lamentations repeatedly returns to another theme: separation from other nations and the consequences of standing alone. The book attributes Judea’s fate to its sins; it does not ask whether diplomatic isolation caused the destruction or resulted from it. Instead, isolation is presented as an integral part of the national calamity.
An enduring reminder
In the ancient world, international interdependence was limited, although trade certainly existed. King Solomon imported cedar from Lebanon to build the Temple, and long before that, Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants. Archaeological evidence confirms that goods moved across land and sea throughout the ancient Near East, yet most households remained largely self-sufficient. Even in that far less interconnected world, Lamentations portrays isolation as a profound national vulnerability.
How much more relevant is that lesson today, when no country, not even the United States and China, which are large and rich in resources, can thrive in complete isolation. That reality applies all the more to a small country such as Israel.
Yet much of Israel’s political leadership appears to treat international realities as secondary. Some invoke the biblical phrase, “A people that dwells alone,” as though it were an ideal or even an instruction for statecraft. When criticized over Israel’s deteriorating international position and challenged with the threat of sanctions, they often respond that Israel can manage on its own.
One example stands out. After the United States temporarily suspended a shipment of certain munitions because of concerns about how they might be used, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “If we have to, we will fight with our fingernails.”
He knows perfectly well that modern wars cannot be fought with fingernails. Nor can they be won with bare hands, or even with the sling that David famously used against Goliath.
Instead of bravado, Israel’s leaders would do well to listen to today’s heirs of Jeremiah: those who warn against the illusion that determination alone can overcome geopolitical realities. Statesmanship requires a sober assessment of Israel’s relative strength, of its dependence on allies and cooperation with them, and of the importance of preserving international legitimacy and partnerships.
The Book of Lamentations is not a treatise on foreign policy. Yet it stands as a remarkably enduring reminder that a nation that ignores the limits of its power and loses its network of external support becomes dangerously vulnerable.
One can only hope that Jews will continue reading Lamentations solely as the record of ancient disasters, and only in reference to past leaders who believed they could bend reality to their will, ignored uncomfortable warnings, failed to grasp the price of international isolation, and did not act to prevent it.
The writer was Israel’s first ambassador to the Baltic states after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, ambassador to South Africa, and the congressional liaison officer at the Israeli embassy in Washington. She is a graduate of Israel’s National Defense College.