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Still dreaming of peace
Op-ed: In its 65th year of independence, State of Israel's continued existence still not obvious
For 65 years we have been fighting wars, planting trees and building homes here, so how is it that the existence of the State of Israel is not obvious to us?
Had we been Micronesia, Switzerland or Brazil, we would never have doubted the continued existence of our country, but the truth is that after 65 years of intense building and successes in almost every field, the continued existence of the State of Israel is still not obvious.
Fallen Heroes
Yoaz Hendel
Op-ed: For one day, remember Israel survives thanks to individual's willingness to sacrifice his life for it
We fight every day, all day, for our existence here. As far as we know, there is no other country in the world whose existence is still being threatened 65 years after it declared independence.
This past year we witnessed the eruption of a volcano, and its lava is heading toward us from all directions: From crumbling Syria, turbulent Egypt, torn Lebanon and even from Jordan, which is spewing venom between its false teeth.
The Muslim world around us is raging, and we are already clinging to the cursed concept that led us to the surprise of the Yom Kippur war in the early 1970s.
According to the new concept, which is prevalent among the senior-most circles, this crazy world will leave the State of Israel alone as long as the Arab world around us continues to be torn. The opposite may also be true. In any case, the Muslim world, in which more than a billion people live, views us as an island in an ocean, a villa in the jungle, and it does not understand how we have not been destroyed yet.
We have, thank God, a strong and advanced military. In Israel's 65th year of independence, it can strike all the Arab countries surrounding us and come out on top. But why would we want this to happen?
In Israel's 65th year of independence, rightists and leftists, secular and religious Israelis, Peace Now members as well as members of the Movement for Greater Israel – all want to live in peace within this stormy ocean. People here have grown weary of war, but can win any war. People here want to live like people in Australia or New Zealand live; they want to succeed like the merchants in Hong Kong and return home safely.
In its 65th year of independence, the fighting State of Israel still dreams of peace. Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleynu v'al kol yisrael vimru amen (May He who makes peace in his heights make peace for us and for all Israel, and let us say Amen).
