It’ll be over by Christmas” is an old saying from the first months of World War I. That war lasted from July 1914 to November 1918—almost four and a half years. To Israel’s leaders’ credit, they have never said such a thing about our war. When it began a year ago, with the brutal attack on October 7, neither Christmas nor any Jewish holy day was mentioned as a possible end date. The war started on a holy day, and when it ends it will be a different type of holy day—that is, if Israel ends up winning it.