IDF
Jerusalem cannot afford to rely on American power.
Learning the lesson of the Second Lebanon War.
Nor should the Knesset continue to kick the can down the road.
From Omar Bradley to F-35s.
For Washington, the strategic and economic benefits are great.
And undermined the IDF’s fighting spirit.
Iranian entrenchment goes far beyond military bases and missile silos.
Remember Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.
Even as the pandemic places new pressures on the bottom line.
And other security consequences for the Jewish state.
In 1948, he served as a stark counter-example to the view (which he mostly held) that history is driven by material factors and not by great leaders.
Ancient Jewish history, with which he was well acquainted, showed what could happen in the absence of a central military command. He made sure it wouldn’t happen again.
If the Jews could hang on through the tough early months, he thought, they would grow considerably stronger while their opponents might well become weaker. And so it proved to be.
The pre-state militia had actually prepared well for the outbreak of war in 1948. But its commanders generally hailed from rival political parties to Ben-Gurion’s.
