Israel is safe

The Zionist project succeeded – the Jewish people have built a safe home.

By AMIR SEGAL
Thousands of young people from around the world attend a Taglit-Birthright Israel mega event on January 1, 2019; the program brought a record 55,000 youngsters to Israel in 2018 (photo credit: JANE PEIMER)
Thousands of young people from around the world attend a Taglit-Birthright Israel mega event on January 1, 2019; the program brought a record 55,000 youngsters to Israel in 2018
(photo credit: JANE PEIMER)
As a child who grew up in Israel, the narrative of my childhood included the recurrent theme that Israel is in constant danger: every Israeli is in danger in his own country, and in every generation enemies rise up to destroy us – “shelo echad bilvad amad aleinu lechaloteinu, ela shebechol dor vador, omdim aleinu lechaloteinu.”
These words from the Haggada are said at every Passover Seder. But they are no longer true. Israel is safe now. I live here with my children and I would not do so unless it was a safe place. The Zionist project succeeded – the Jewish people have built a safe home.
The source of the story of this existential threat to Israel’s existence is that years ago it was actually true. During the War of Independence in 1948, about 7,000 Israelis were killed  – one percent of the young country’s citizens at the time. Of course, the War of Independence took place barely three years after the Holocaust had all but decimated European Jewry.
Years after the establishment of Israel, a military threat still hung over the heads of the country’s residents. Israel’s victory in the Six Day War was brilliant, but it came on the heels of a well-founded fear of a looming disaster. Six years later, a similar concern arose during the traumatic Yom Kippur War, a war that to this day remains  an open wound for Israelis.
It did not end there. I remember myself as a ten-year-old boy during the Gulf War. Like everyone in my family, I had a gas mask which I took to school every day as did everyone else in my grade.
We had a safe room in our house that could be sealed in case of a chemical missile landing nearby. While no chemical missiles landed in Israel, the fear was real. I know the story of the existential threat intimately because I lived it, like all Israelis.
To understand that an existential threat to Israel no longer exists, it is necessary to understand what an “existential threat” is – a threat to the very existence of the country, to large parts of it, or at least to the nature of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
It is easy to present any violent event as a sign of a terrible threat. This, of course, is not true. Without detracting from the severity of any violent event, terrorist act or crime involving casualties –these are not “existential” threats. Even the rockets fired at Israel from Gaza are not a threat to Israel’s existence. While they are unbearable and risk tragedy for anyone under direct attack, especially those who are harmed or lose their loved ones, even on the Gaza border life continues and children go to school.
Since 1948, Israel has succeeded in building a thriving and stable economy, impressive health and educational systems, and world-class academia. It is also one of the most innovative countries in the world. With a strong and sophisticated army, effective security organizations and a young but deeply rooted democratic tradition – all these make Israel a safe, comfortable, prosperous and interesting country in which to live. It is important to mention that the strength and sophistication of the IDF and of Israel’s security forces account, to a great extent, for the fact that no existential threat to the state exists today. Certainly, the absence of existential threats does not mean that Israel does not need to be protected.
During the War of Independence, the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, the most significant threat to Israel’s existence was war with our neighbors. But over the years, this threat has been completely removed. Peace with Jordan and Egypt is stable; peace with Egypt is so stable that it has survived a change of government and even a coup d’état. Diplomatic relations with the Gulf countries are now improving and Israel’s position in the region is becoming more stable.
Let us now analyze any potential threats individually.
Neighboring countries with whom Israel has not signed peace agreements – Syria and Lebanon – are far from constituting an existential threat. Threats of attacks by Hezbollah on the northern border nonetheless should not be taken lightly. Yet Hezbollah, essentially, is a local terrorist organization, and the threat is limited. It is a problem that Israel knows how to overcome.
Even the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians does not threaten Israel’s existence. The Palestinians – be it Fatah or Hamas – have no chance of threatening Israel beyond what they have already achieved. While Palestinian terrorism presents a real threat to individuals and requires being on high alert and highly responsive – it does not matter whether the best answer is a peace treaty with the Palestinians (and I do believe this is the right solution), or using extensive force. The Palestinians do not present a threat to Israel’s existence as a country.
The BDS movement, which many senior Israeli officials are trying to paint as a threat, is nothing more than a group of activists whose successes are isolated (although highly publicized) and who experience mainly failures. Musicians and stand-up artists generally do not refrain from coming to Israel and performing here, except for a few; Israel’s academic ties are strong; many global companies maintain R&D centers in Israel; and no significant statesman in the Western world would make a point of avoiding a visit to Israel.
The price that Israel regularly pays for the narrative of the “security threat” is reflected in the number of tourists who come here. On the one hand, over the last few years Israel has been bringing in record numbers of tourists. On the other hand, the numbers for a country with all of its holy sites are still objectively low. Just for comparison, in 2017, 3.6 million tourists entered Israel, and Georgia (a country in northern Caucasus) had 7.5 million. In other words, a country with a smaller population than Israel and with an existential threat of a Russian invasion pending at all times brought in twice as many tourists as Israel. A Russian threat is real: in 2008 there was a war, and, as a result, parts of the country remain occupied. Yet a country in a volatile region where war could break out at any given moment has been perceived as more secure than Israel and has attracted more tourists. Something to think about.
Today the narrative of an existential threat is backed by political interests. The narrative is told by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters as if only one person can save Israel – and this person is the current prime minister. Netanyahu is peddling the story because he was accused of taking bribes, and wants to deflect attention from his legal woes. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, did spend time in prison on corruption charges. Netanyahu will do all he can to avoid a simlar fate – even if it means telling Israelis that the country isn’t safe. In recent years, Prime Minister Netanyahu compared Israel’s situation to that of the Jewish communities in Europe in 1938. In recent weeks, he has explicitly said that Israel is preparing for a complex and dangerous security situation.
Despite the current success of action movies, in which a super hero saves the world alone, real life does not work like this. The strength of Israel lies in its democratic system. No one is key to the country’s success or failure – be it Netanyahu, Ben-Gurion or Elon Musk.
I live in Jerusalem, a city safer than the majority of American or European cities. Even at the height of the last knife intifada three years ago, Jerusalem was safer than New York, London, Paris or even Portland. I would not have raised my children in a war zone, nor in a country whose future is uncertain. I encourage you to believe this Israeli, who decided to live in his country and raise his children in its capital – because, really, Israel is safe.
The writer is a doctoral student in sociology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem