(CNN) -- There is good reason to hope that Israel has been paying attention to Central America in the past year. In the event that it has not, it might fall on the U.S. to give Israel a crash course.

Israel is not the only small, open country whose recent actions have alienated much of the world. Last June, the Honduran military expelled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint, unleashing a tragic series of events including human rights abuses, economic contraction and international isolation.

Late last month, Israeli commandos killed nine activists seeking to breach the Gaza maritime blockade with a humanitarian aid shipment, and the international community reacted with horror.

After both events, officials in power in Israel and Honduras resorted to similar narratives: The world misunderstood them and underestimated the threats they faced. These government accounts expanded the distance between each country and the world, demonstrating that real change will not come while the leaders promoting these narratives remain in power.

In Honduras, the coup prompted an unprecedented international rejection; in Israel, international reproach has mounted over time, with the flotilla attack providing the most recent justification for anti-Israel rhetoric.

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