Last week, I recommended Gershon Hacohen’s exploration of the theology behind Hamas’s strategy, and how the IDF can fight against such a holy war. In a follow-up piece, he turns to the question of the Jewish state’s own sense of purpose. “Nation of Israel,” asks Hacohen, paraphrasing the late novelist A.B. Yehoshua, “for what purpose do you fight, and how do you fight?” Such a question cannot be answered by a committee of inquiry like the one the ministry of defense is forming to investigate the failures of October 7. But it is one that matters:
Hamas and Hizballah fight out of religious belief. By contrast, we are not clear on our reasons for uniting to fight wars beyond our desire to safeguard our existence and survival.
Hacohen also raises a disturbing possibility. The creation of a Jewish state has not, as Theodor Herzl hoped, brought an end to anti-Semitism by transforming the Jews into a normal people. Instead, as Natan Sharansky has pointed out, Israel has simply become the world’s Jew. Nor has Zionism succeeded in guaranteeing the security of Jews in their homeland, as evidenced by October 7. Could Zionism be a failure? Hacohen answers with an unequivocal “no,” even as he cautions against any sort of utopianism:
[T]o those who witness the combat spirit of the IDF soldiers and the full support of their parents, the Zionist narrative manifests itself in all its practical simplicity by demonstrating a readiness to fight without hesitation to defend the people and the country. This is a major historical achievement. . . .
On Saturday, October 7, the dream of an Israeli paradise collapsed. With the war in Ukraine and even in Western Europe, it has become clear that despite hopes for peace everywhere, there is no paradise on earth. As expressed in the Negev lullaby my mother sang to me in my childhood, “There is no deep silence without a weapon. . . . Sleep, son.”
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/a-new-existential-war-part-iii-forming-a-clear-post-war-national-vision-means-returning-to-the-roots-of-zionism/