It is too early to predict the outcome of this month’s all-important EU-UK summit, but there has already been a sea change in terms of more cordial language and a spirit of cooperation between the two sides that has buried the toxicity of the dreadful Brexit years.

There are two feelings, some might say traits, that are hard to come by when countries are in a state of war: empathy and sympathy.

If ever there has been a national institution that is revered in Israel and has the power to unite the country, at least its Jewish population, it is the Israeli army.

Only in recent years has it been allowed for the full name of the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, to be in the public domain while they are still serving. Before this, they were traditionally referred to only by the first letter of their name.