Israeli media has revealed a secret that was kept quiet for months: one Arab Muslim country advised another to sign an agreement with Israel only to “put it to sleep,” rearm, and prepare for the next war. Israeli journalist Tzvi Yehezkeli, who specializes in Islam and the Middle East, asks the only honest question: Is anyone actually surprised?

He reminds us of a foundational Islamic precedent every Jew and Israeli must know, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

In 628 CE, while still weak, Muhammad signed a ten-year truce with the stronger Jewish Quraysh tribe at Hudaybiyyah. The terms looked humiliating. The pause allowed Mohammad to grow stronger. Two years later he broke the truce, marched on Mecca, and conquered it.

That pattern never ended.

In one of those cities, a local Jew was upset to see me wearing my kippah in public. “Why stand out?” he asked. He wasn’t afraid for me — he was afraid for himself and the consequences he would face. Christians walk freely with their symbols. Muslims do the same. For Jews, hiding identity is treated as normal. That should never be accepted as normal.

A Jewish restaurant in Montreal was just burned down. The arsonist was caught on camera. Authorities are investigating it as a hate crime. Across North America, Europe, and Australia, antisemitic attacks keep rising. Jewish schools need heavy security. Synagogues look like fortresses. Many Jews now hide Jewish symbols in public. Just a few years ago this was unnecessary. Today the warning signs are unmistakable. Jewish history is repeating itself.