Anti-war protests prior to the invasion of Iraq easily dwarfed today's turnouts (impressive as they are) but that didn't stop Dubya and his client state sock puppets from Shock and Awe'ing their way through Iraq with a shit-eating grin. When "Israel's 9/11" happened, it looked like we'd see a repeat of that despite everything, especially in an era where it's more apparent than ever that the Western ruling class does not give two shits about popular will if things quiet down and everyone goes to brunch by the end.
And yet, politicians and MSM talking heads alike who were previously channeling their inner Goebbels and hyping up the audience for Palestinian blood are now timidly stepping back, talking about "humanitarian pauses" just short of a ceasefire (and sometimes slipping up). On occasion, there's actual push-back even from longtime zionists. We're seeing cold-hearted state department ghouls resigning in protest since even they understand the severity of this. Of course, talk is cheap and it's more trying to save face than anything but compared to 20 years ago it's baffling that they don't simply close their eyes and ears and pretend the protests are just dumb Saddam Hamas-loving hippies.
This is less me going 
that things will just end up the same and more being measuredly optimistic. There was a lingering thought in the back of my mind that that the work people have done to propagate, agitate and disrupt would only pay "dividends" in the long run months after Israel finally accomplishes its dreams of acquiring Lebensraum.
I have lots of ideas as to why. The greater public fatigue for forever wars, the proliferation of graphic footage through social media, the lack of the "End of History" high that was present for the War on Terror, the diminishing socio-economic prospects for people in the belly of the beast, Israel's more brazen stance since 2014 and so on. I'm just trying to digest it all.
This is a completely vibes based analysis but here are my thoughts. First, the Iraq war was ostensibly tied to 9/11 which was fresh in people’s mind. People might make a big deal about the Israelis being attacked, but that will always different from the post-9/11 feeling people had that they themselves were under attack. Even the people resurrecting the Bush era paranoia that the terrorists are going to be invading us next, it’s not really the same since there was never any urgent threat for Americans.
Second, the USA is collapsed. The treats don’t flow anymore, not like they did in 2003, people are angry, upset, there’s something resembling an anti-war far left today, along with an isolationist far-right. There’s also no rally around the flag moment since this isn’t an American war. They’re trying to get us amped up about a foreign war, which firstly everyone is tired of and more opposed to, and a foreign war that we’re not even publicly involved in. It’s a different moment and a much harder populace to get excited.
Third, the Iraq war was brutal, but it wasn’t this. The US did some horrible things over there, but at the end of the day it was about opening up new markets, creating a US puppet state and bleeding a country dry. Everything was incidental to these goals. With Israel-Gaza, the goal really is just extermination and genocide. Despite all the propaganda, they can’t avoid that.
Fourth, the Iraq war was an extension of and the conclusion of the Gulf War, which not only was a success for the US, but itself occurred as the Soviet Union was dissolving and the US was finding itself the dominant power in a now unipolar system. As such, you have the whole UN Security Council (inc. China and the dying Soviet Union) backing the US on economic sanctions, the largest coalition since WWII opposing Iraq militarily. So in 2003, now fully in the end of history with only allies or defeated/impotent opponents on the world stage, the US at the height of its power and literally the same military action in 91 having been a huge success, that a much easier war to get behind than the endless quagmire the Iraq war became.
Fifth, Biden is a nonexistent president. Bush had that down home good old boy personality despite being a monster, Obama was an extremely skilled speaker and was good at seeming like the “cool” president, and Trump just oozes charisma, it’s literally his only skill. Biden is a decrepit old man, fucks up every time he speaks, and doesn’t even seem like he’s the president. No one’s gonna get behind that.
So tldr the population is different having lost its appetite for war, it has nothing to do with us despite the propaganda trying to convince us otherwise, and the actual goals are very different and harder to convince people to get behind. Also Biden sucks.