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For Israel, the Existential Question Returns
(Wall Street Journal) Eliot A. Cohen - In 1948, Israel's population consisted of roughly a million Jews. In 2022, the population had burgeoned to nearly 10 million, over seven million of them Jews. The Israel of 1948 was poor. It is now one of the technology powerhouses of the world. And it did this while absorbing millions of immigrants from around the world, of all skin colors, languages and traditions, while fighting chronic campaigns against its neighbors and terrorist groups committed to its extermination. The uncertainties of the moment are immense, but a few things are clear. The first is the striking resilience of Israeli civil society. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis fled not abroad, but home, many of them to don uniforms and join reserve units. Civil action groups have filled in all kinds of gaps - from supplying soldiers to replacing labor on Israeli farms. For nearly half a century, the existential question hasn't been on the table for Israel. After Oct. 7, however, Israelis live under the constant threat of an unshakably hostile and eliminationist coalition led by Iran and including Hizbullah, Hamas, Yemen's Houthis and kindred groups that will use any means to weaken and eventually destroy their state. Once again, as in Israel's first quarter-century, they may have to live under perpetual siege, building a society while keeping one wary hand ever on the sword, for at least the foreseeable future. The first Israelis accepted that challenge and still managed to thrive. Their spirit thus far suggests that one should not doubt that their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are capable of doing the same. The writer, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, holds the Arleigh Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.