What Can We Learn From Israel’s Perseverance?

Commentary

What lessons can free societies and developing nations learn from the resilient state of Israel? While modern Israel earned recognition as a state in 1948, its roots can be traced back several centuries before the Romans conquered the region.

Following the Holocaust, Jewish immigration accelerated to Israel, especially from Europe and the Soviet Union. In the early years, Jewish kibbutz communities turned arid land into agricultural gardens of productivity. Although Israel implemented a socialist economic model, by the 1980s it transitioned into a higher degree of free market capitalism, and the rest is history. In his autobiography “Bibi: My Story,” Benjamin Netanyahu detailed how this shift triggered greater prosperity (current GDP is about $600 billion).

Over the past forty years, Israel has become one of the most innovative economies in the spheres of desalination, engineering, high tech, medical devices, precision armaments, R&D, surveillance satellites, etc. Trade with several countries is robust, and Israel has forged relations with regional states. The Abraham Accords have expanded those partnerships. With a population of 10 million, Israel is 72 percent Jewish, and the balance is a mixture primarily of Arabs, Armenians, and Christians.

Israel’s unity parliamentary republic has been quite successful at assimilating diverse cultures and faiths into its society. These minority groups are well represented in the academic, business, cultural, and public sectors. Many serve in the armed forces and the Knesset, which is similar to our Congress. As a democratic republic, Israel holds periodic elections and has executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.

Unfortunately, as a sovereign state, Israel has had to fend off hostile neighboring states a number of times (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973), along with well-funded terrorist groups since the 1970s. It has offered up land deals to the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. However, these land-for-peace exchanges didn’t always generate stability in the region, as the territories became launching pads to threaten Israeli population centers.

To survive and thrive despite threats to its existence, Israel developed fine-tuned intelligence systems, along with an adaptable, modernized industrial base. Although imperfect, the external intelligence agency Mossad and the internal security agency Shin Bet are among the finest intelligence institutions in the world that have helped to predict, as well as thwart, terror attacks. They also provide key intel to their allies and are experienced with hostage rescue missions.

In addition, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) protects the state with precise offensive capabilities and at least a three-layered defensive shield. This strategic shield is utilized to intercept and destroy incoming drones, missiles, and rockets from a variety of ranges. It includes the Arrow system (ballistic range), David’s Sling (medium range), and the Iron Dome (shorter range). Recently, the IDF has added a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to its arsenal of missile interceptors.

It’s common knowledge that the U.N. holds Israel to an exacting high bar in conflict operations, yet Israel has set a high standard for itself when it battles other states or terrorist groups. Israelis are self-critical, which allows them to digest lessons from both their failures and victories in times of peace and war. Indeed, the IDF does its utmost to mitigate civilian casualties in dense urban environments, although Israel’s adversaries deny the IDF’s rules of engagement. The IDF issues multiple broadcasts and warnings to residents to evacuate prior to neutralizing terrorist infrastructure.

In most cases, the IDF combatant-to-noncombatant ratio of deaths is about 1:1 or 1:1.5. Contrast that with most wars, when the ratios are closer to 1:3, 1:4, or even 1:5 (the larger number represents civilians, and the smaller number represents the combatants). What makes the IDF ratio more challenging is the fact that for years Iran’s proxies have embedded themselves into homes, hospitals, mosques, schools, and tunnels in civilian areas. Civilians are often used as human shields to protect the terrorists.

Nations are made up of human beings, and they make mistakes. However, Israel, on the whole, has strived to live in peace with its neighbors, although it is surrounded by states that have plotted its extinction. It will always do what is necessary to defend its citizens, with or without the assistance of its allies. Yet it has been a reliable ally to the United States, despite certain tensions from time to time.

What can the world learn from Israel’s perseverance? We can visualize deserts blooming into prime agricultural areas and learn how to conserve water resources or desalinate ocean water in dry regions. World leaders can absorb the fact that free market capitalism can generate incredible economic growth due to human capital that is innovative and well-educated.

We can learn that ethnic and religious pluralism can effectively work if people have freedom and equal opportunity. In a volatile region of the world, Israel stands as a beacon of what nations can be if they pursue economic development and peace. To maintain moral traditions and stability, nations should spend more on national security and build tiered defense systems as a deterrent to aggressive rogue states.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.