From Athens to Jerusalem: Why Israel should heed the warnings of ancient Greek history - analysis

This is important for modern Israel. Zionism has always been rooted in several sources. One of the sources is the Jewish people and their connection to the land of Israel. This is a heritage that goes back to the Bible. Zionism was also a modern form of Jewish nationalism, rooted in the era when European nation-states were being formed.

For instance, the First Zionist Congress was held in 1897, and Theodor Herzl had published Der Judenstaat in 1896. By this time, there was already a movement of Jews to Ottoman Palestine in the form of the First Aliyah in the 1880s and the role played by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

Zionism came of age during an era of change in Europe. Modern Italy was founded in the 1860s, and Germany was unified. Serbia became an independent country, and the Greeks achieved independence from the Ottomans.

The Ottomans themselves were changing with the formation of the Committee of Union and Progress and the rise of the Young Turks. Early Zionists such as David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, studying in Istanbul, were influenced by this.

Fast forward to 2026 and Rubio’s speech.

Rubio spoke about the importance of nationalism and states that are strong. He praised Greece today as a model ally of the United States. He also spoke about how strong countries don’t allow open borders, and they invest in defense and manufacturing. These are values of modern Israel.

In many cases, the concept of the Spartans being obsessed with war is a stereotype. In the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), it was the Athenians who were seeking a kind of hegemony among the Greek city-states. Sparta was resisting this. As head of the Peloponnesian League, Sparta rallied states to resist Athenian aggression and the aggression of Athens’ Delian League allies. Sparta’s kind warned of the destructive war which engulfed the city-states.

What is Israel’s connection to all this?

Sparta did not have a large industrial base. The city eventually declined and has largely vanished from history. A visit to Sparta today reveals a small town. Athens, by contrast, is still glorious against the backdrop of the Acropolis and Parthenon. Nevertheless, the concept of being a “Sparta” in the Middle East is one that appeals to Israel. Some people want an Israel that is warlike and suspicious of its neighbors. This policy has defined the post-October 7 period, with Israel advancing into buffer zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.

Israel today is engaged in an unprecedented number of conflicts. One of those wars is with Iran. This is not a war solely of Israel’s doing. Iran attacked Israel. Iran funded proxies to attack Israel. Iran sought to ring Israel with enemies such as Hezbollah. In 2024, Iran launched massive waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, claiming to be retaliating for Israeli operations in Syria and Tehran.

Ancient Greece also was in the grips of the necessity of city-states to engage in long-range wars. For instance, the siege of Troy, which lasted a decade according to Homer, was waged by sending hundreds of ships to the shore of what is now modern day Turkey. Greek city states had colonies all over the Mediterranean. Anatolia and the Black Sea were areas of Greek colonies. The battle of Troy apparently resulted from this.

What we know of that long war is that the city-states sent forces to the shoreline near Troy, who set siege, camping out for years. When the siege was over, and Troy was destroyed, the soldiers came home. The story told in the recent film Odyssey, based on the book by Homer, relates the disaster that befell those who tried to return home.

Is there a lesson here for Israel?

Israel’s decision to engage in long-range conflict with Iran has risks. This kind of risk was felt by the Athenians during their ill-fated Syracuse campaign. Prodded by the Athenian Alcibiades, the Athenians sent forces all the way to what is modern-day Sicily to wage a complex war. The war sapped the strength of Athens and turned into a disaster, leading to its decline.

Israel must be wary of its overextended lines, fighting on numerous fronts, lest it also find itself a victor but see its strength sapped.

Like modern-day Israel, the Greeks faced powerful enemies. Foremost among them was the Persian Empire. The Persians invaded Greece several times, often with large armies and navies. At key moments, the Persians were defeated, such as at the Battle of Marathon and later at Salamis in 480 BCE. Is there a lesson for Israel’s current challenges with the Islamic Republic of Iran?

In both cases, a small state is facing a much larger one. Iran is around 75 times larger than Israel. Iran’s population is around nine times that of Israel. However, size isn’t everything. This is a lesson from the Bible in the story of David and Goliath. Iran, today, has a relatively weak economy and faces many challenges fighting the US.

The issue for Israel, as it was for the Greeks in the 4-5th centuries BCE, is that fighting a large country can draw one in and force one to engage in many other conflicts. Israel has this problem. Some Israeli officials have already said that they believe Turkey could become the next Iran. What they mean is that a weak Iran will leave a vacuum in the region and Turkey may fill that vacuum. Turkey is a member of NATO. It is more powerful and advanced than Iran.

How might we see a parallel here with ancient Greece?

Alexander of Macedon invaded Persia in 336 BCE. He conquered Persia and even invaded northern India in 326 BCE. As such, he had conquered much of what the Greeks believed was the known world at the time. However, this new Greek empire fell into infighting. The Greek cultural hegemony was felt in areas that are now Israel and Jordan. Greek-influenced towns arose in the areas of Beit Shean and across the Jordan valley, what Rome would call the Decapolis cities.

What matters for our purposes is that the defeat of Persia only led to brief success. In the end, it also led to infighting.

Israel could do well to consider the fate of the Greeks in the period of the rise of Rome. Israel today is a strong state. However, global changes are taking place. China is potentially rising, and the US is navigating a new world order that is as complex as the world order of the 1990s.

The Greek city-states also had to navigate these changes. After the victories of Alexander and the decline of his brief empire into infighting, the Greek city-states faced challenges from the Romans in Italy. The Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus fought the Romans in the period 280-275 BCE. The term “Pyrrhic victory” comes from his wars. Even when he won, the attrition for his army added up to losses in the end.

What might that tell us about Israel? Will it suffer attrition from being overstretched in conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank? Israel’s inability to have a strategy in Gaza, and its unwillingness to decide what the future holds for the West Bank could be a long-term challenge. Jerusalem feels today that it has the upper hand. It feels confident, for instance, to get into diplomatic spats with countries such as the United Kingdom. It assumes that, over time, the rise of the Right in Europe will mean less interest in the Palestinian issue.

Perhaps. However, what ancient Greece teaches us is that overconfidence and hubris can lead to ruin.

This was the case with Athens choosing war with the Spartan allies, as well as its Sicilian expedition. It also ended badly for the Greeks in conflict with Rome. At the Battle of Cynoscephalae, Philip V of Macedon was decisively defeated. Rome essentially annexed Athens in 146 BCE and sacked it in 86 BCE. In 63 BCE the Romans also came to Jerusalem, ending the era of Hasmonean rule.