JERUSALEM — The retired men who parse politics on Monday mornings over cappuccino at the Hadar Mall here have watched all manner of war, uprisings and chaos. To them, the chemical attacks to the north in Syria and the military crackdown against Islamists to the south in Egypt are almost comforting, a confirmation of a common Israeli view that their Arab neighbors are unready for democracy, while also offering a diversion from their own conflict with the Palestinians.

“We’re going to have quiet for many years — we can take money from the security budget and put it in education,” said Edward Reuven, 73, a former bus driver who, like the others in the cabal, is from a family that has lived in Jerusalem for generations. “I can sleep easy. They’re busy with themselves. Their armies are weakened. The world will become preoccupied with them and leave us alone.

“In Hebrew, there’s a saying,” Mr. Reuven added: “We survived Pharaoh, we’ll survive this, too.”

Not far from where the men were gossiping, the authorities distributed gas masks: by Wednesday, amid rising expectations of an American attack in Syria and attendant threats of retaliation against Israel, they had trouble keeping up with multiplying demand and fights erupted in some places. But even many of those lining up to collect the kits sounded more stoic than scared. “Just in case something happens, you have the tools in your hand,” Ariel Garcia Lozano, 31, said with a shrug, lingering for lunch with his new bride, gas mask at their feet.

Israel’s leaders have convened emergency cabinet sessions in recent days and ratcheted up home-front preparations, with military reservists being called up and air-defense systems readied on Wednesday. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, “There is no reason to change daily routines.”