The State of Israel remembered the 40th anniversary of the most climactic event in its history last week. The international community largely abandoned the fledgling nation in this rare moment of celebration. As Israel’s leaders gathered at the Knesset May 14 to memorialize the unification of Jerusalem under Israeli control, it was hard not to notice the lack of international representatives.

Absent from the ceremonies were some of Israel’s firmest friends, including the European Union and the United States. Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Dr. Harald Kindermann, pointed out why all representatives from the EU would boycott the Jerusalem Day celebrations: “We believe that Jerusalem’s future should be part of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” he explained.

That statement shows that what prevents Europe from giving Israel full support—even if it only means attending a short celebratory ceremony—is its political attachment to the Palestinian cause.

Soon after Europe’s announcement that it would not attend the celebrations, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones followed suit and announced his absence from the Knesset ceremonies. America’s decision to boycott the celebration, explained Israel Today, comes “despite a 1995 decision by the U.S. Congress to recognize a united Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital,” a bill that not only acknowledges Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, but also “obligates the administration to move the American Embassy to the holy and contested city,” a gesture the American government still has not done.

The international community’s willingness to snub Israel not only hurt Israel’s confidence in its relations with foreign powers, but also provided a slap on the back for Palestinians in Israel and their supporters across the world.

Especially striking about the boycott was the reaction, or lack thereof, of most of Israel’s top leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded weakly, leaving it up to his foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, to vaguely inform the world that the “connection between Israel and Jerusalem is inseparable.” Virtually the only strong condemnation against the international community came from Mayor of Jerusalem Uri Lupolianski when he told world leaders that “[a]nyone who doesn’t recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel does not recognize the State of Israel.”

The snubbing of Israel by virtually the entire international community, including its most longstanding allies, was a disheartening sign of the mounting international antipathy for Jewish control over Jerusalem. Worse still, the fact that most Israeli leaders failed to strongly condemn the international community for reneging on its commitment to support the nation shows that Israel’s own leadership is losing its passion for Jerusalem.

Continue to watch Jerusalem: The more the international community reduces its support of Israel and throws its weight behind the Palestinian cause, the more likely that already-strained relations between Palestinians and Jews will intensify and war will erupt.