The blindness you describe was evident in our conceptions here in Israel, prior to last year. I don't believe that we were as afflicted as other Western nations, but given that the threat to our existence is so much more tangible, it's God's miracle that we survived our wishful thinking.
Today, aside from an incorrigibly blind and small leftist minority, our perception of the classic human reality has returned.
Having entire families fighting in the reserves is a kind of tribal tonic, restorative to realistic sensibility. And, we are strangely the most contented when defending what we love most!
There's nothing miraculous about your survival. Israel is a modern state with powerful Armed Forces, whereas your adversaries are militias and a comparatively weak Iran.
October 7th was horrible, but it never threatened the survival of the country.
In the September 30, 2024 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead put it this way in his weekly column,
“Western foreign-policy elites desperately want to believe that we live in a stable, rules-based international order and that successful foreign policy in our enlightened era depends less on military strength and more on diplomacy, respect for international law and scrupulous attention to human rights. The further that reality diverges from this pleasant illusion, the more desperately many in the diplomatic and journalistic establishments cling to their dreams.”
I wish you weren’t so wrong. The eventual investigation report will reveal the truth.
On that horrible morning, the enemy put our eyes out, like Samson.
One force of terrorists planned to drive 50km east to Hebron, to trigger a massacre there and light a 3rd “intifada” among the residents in Judea and Samaria. Another strike group had plans to attack and cripple Ashdod, 20km away and our most strategic port. Yet another team was tasked with attacking the major air base near Beersheba, also just 30km away.
We had nothing ready to stop them, mostly policemen with handguns. Our Air Force was stood down except for 4 aircraft, two jets and two helicopters, protecting the Mediterranean gas fields. The helicopters ended up communicating with poorly organized volunteers by using WhatsApp.
Had Sinwar been patient enough to better coordinate with Hezbollah; and had these undisciplined savages not been distracted by their literal orgy of violence against the helpless civilians, that day would have been 30x worse for us. I’m not sure that Zionism would have survived that failure to protect its people.
Like Samson, we recovered our strength. But the Philistine temple nearly came down upon us.
The blindness you describe was evident in our conceptions here in Israel, prior to last year. I don't believe that we were as afflicted as other Western nations, but given that the threat to our existence is so much more tangible, it's God's miracle that we survived our wishful thinking.
Today, aside from an incorrigibly blind and small leftist minority, our perception of the classic human reality has returned.
Having entire families fighting in the reserves is a kind of tribal tonic, restorative to realistic sensibility. And, we are strangely the most contented when defending what we love most!
There's nothing miraculous about your survival. Israel is a modern state with powerful Armed Forces, whereas your adversaries are militias and a comparatively weak Iran.
October 7th was horrible, but it never threatened the survival of the country.
In the September 30, 2024 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead put it this way in his weekly column,
“Western foreign-policy elites desperately want to believe that we live in a stable, rules-based international order and that successful foreign policy in our enlightened era depends less on military strength and more on diplomacy, respect for international law and scrupulous attention to human rights. The further that reality diverges from this pleasant illusion, the more desperately many in the diplomatic and journalistic establishments cling to their dreams.”
The whole thing is well worth a look.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/benjamin-netanyahus-triumphal-week-ignoring-western-delusions-attacking-hezbollah-c56adedd
This is very good. Precisely. It is the willingness to become violent and the military capabilities to back it up that sustain the state.
I wish you weren’t so wrong. The eventual investigation report will reveal the truth.
On that horrible morning, the enemy put our eyes out, like Samson.
One force of terrorists planned to drive 50km east to Hebron, to trigger a massacre there and light a 3rd “intifada” among the residents in Judea and Samaria. Another strike group had plans to attack and cripple Ashdod, 20km away and our most strategic port. Yet another team was tasked with attacking the major air base near Beersheba, also just 30km away.
We had nothing ready to stop them, mostly policemen with handguns. Our Air Force was stood down except for 4 aircraft, two jets and two helicopters, protecting the Mediterranean gas fields. The helicopters ended up communicating with poorly organized volunteers by using WhatsApp.
Had Sinwar been patient enough to better coordinate with Hezbollah; and had these undisciplined savages not been distracted by their literal orgy of violence against the helpless civilians, that day would have been 30x worse for us. I’m not sure that Zionism would have survived that failure to protect its people.
Like Samson, we recovered our strength. But the Philistine temple nearly came down upon us.