Over the last several weeks, Israelis have been mindful of the growing existential threats from the neighbors. This year's Holocaust Day ushered in a quiet change in the usual Israeli bravado to the chorus of promises of armegeddon. Israelis have learned that when it comes to such threats, they will have to go them alone.
So what's different here? Israelis are preparing for incoming rounds.
Civil defense programs are being activated and various neighborhoods are organizing citizen preparedness meetings. A former student who lives in Tel Aviv told me that his building has already had several meetings with the residents--lessons learned from the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraqi missles hit Tel Aviv repeatedly have not been lost.
The Home Front Command has updated its website with an especially informative graphic to inform citizens of how long they have to get to a shelter after hearing a siren by where they live.
So what's different here? Israelis are preparing for incoming rounds.
Civil defense programs are being activated and various neighborhoods are organizing citizen preparedness meetings. A former student who lives in Tel Aviv told me that his building has already had several meetings with the residents--lessons learned from the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraqi missles hit Tel Aviv repeatedly have not been lost.
The Home Front Command has updated its website with an especially informative graphic to inform citizens of how long they have to get to a shelter after hearing a siren by where they live.
So, while the Prez talks of "never again", Israelis know exactly what that means: clean out the bomb shelters and get new filters for the gas masks. Unlike the States, Israelis live in theater where every person is a target to the enemy. In Israel, "never again" refers to reliance on world opinion to stop a madman hell bent on genocide.
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2 comments:
Bare with me on this...I'll get to Israel.
It has been said (with some controversy) that the tune played when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown was "The World Turned Upside Down." I am a baby boomer raised in a traditional manner by a father and mother who honored God, accepted as a matter of fact the primacy of the American way, and who believed that government wasn't good for much except writing checks. The world I grew up in seems quite upside down today. My belief in Judeo-Christian God, free markets, small government, individual freedom and the responsibility that comes with it, and the whole idea of Western Civilization as an outcome of these ideas are all under assault (and failing) at the same time.
To me Israel represents the outcome of so many things good and bad from Western Civilization. Would Israel exist today if not for the holocaust? I doubt it. And as our civilization (and the ideas that underpin it) fails, Israel must fend for itself as it struggles with the same problems engulfing the rest of the West.
Europe has already abandoned Israel. The US is well along the abandonment road both as a matter of belief and policy, and also in terms of capability. Israel and the US (along with a few weak and uncertain allies)are at war in a clash of civilizations. Current events indicate to me we are losing that war. The US will emerge from ongoing events fundamentally weakened and altered in its outlook. Israel's existence, without intervention from God, strikes me as VERY doubtful. I hope...and pray that I'm wrong.
I think Israelis are in complete agreement with you on all points except one--the intervention part.
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