Leaving the Underdog Behind

“This Yom Ha’atzmaut feels so much more hopeless than the last ones,” my wife reflected over coffee this Sunday morning. I’ve heard the same from friends, that despite the difficulty of the past three Israeli independence days (the first in 2023, after the current government’s pursuit of the judicial overhaul tore our society asunder; the second in 2024, after the terrible attacks of October 7th; the third in 2025, as the war dragged on and our hostages remained in Gaza) this one feels, well, hopeless. This Yom HaZikaron sadder, as questions abound whether Israel will survive to honor the sacrifices made by so many of our loved ones.

I believe many Israelis feel this way because we are wading through the wreckage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broken promises: the promise that Hamas would be defeated; the promise that Hezbollah was defanged; the promise that Iran’s nuclear program was set back generations, that we would see the fall of the Islamic Republic. Israelis sacrificed their loved ones, their economy, their sleep, their health, in the hope that the government would make good on their promises. Yet with the Iranian ceasefire ending and no agreement in sight, with Hamas flamboyantly reconstituted and rejecting demands to lay down its weapons, with Hezbollah firing indiscriminately at civilian centers, many Israelis feel like they can give no more. Like they’ve been asked to run another lap after finishing a marathon.

I feel their pain, but do not feel the same. On the contrary, I am more hopeful than ever about the future of Israel and the region. Not because I disagree with their observations. Not because I trust this government to fix things. But because the leaders and activists that I interviewed for my new book, Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza, convinced me that this dark period of our history has taught Israelis something that will end up saving the State. A lesson that will free us to return to the aspirations of the visionary Zionists who established the movement: that power has its limits.

While it may seem counterintuitive to find hope in the spreading recognition of the limitations of power, I’ve come to recognize it as an unfortunately necessary step for the Jewish People. Because before one can recognize the limits of power, one needs to have power. And Israel, at 78, is at the height of its power. Our airforce did what no other airforce in the history of the world was able to do. Our special forces are the world’s best, bar none, carrying out operations thousands of kilometers from our shores with no backup in sight. Our ability to literally shoot missiles out of the air is unparalleled. Our cyber is a quantum better than nations hundreds of times our size. We have the ability to take out the entire leadership of an organization in one fell swoop thousands of kilometers away without anyone knowing until it is too late. And yet.

And yet, destroying Gaza did not demilitarize Hamas. And yet, clearing Southern Lebanon from Shia did not deter Hezbollah. And yet, decapitating the Islamic Republic did not convince the Revolutionary Guards that God might not be on their side. And yet, despite our tanks and our bombs and our subs and our ships, Israel feels as existentially threatened as always, from without and from within. Despite telling ourselves that the bloodshed and the destruction and the hardening of our hearts was necessary, that we had no other choice, we are growing to recognize that, perhaps, we did have other choices. That our power gives us the ability to make other choices, as we did with Egypt in 1979 after proving to them our power. As we did with Jordan. This is why the extreme-right coalition led by Netanyahu has fallen so low in the polls: there is a growing realization that we need a new approach, a new strategy, a new direction.

Arriving at this Yom Ha’atzmaut with this dual recognition – of our power and its limits – has enabled many of us to shake off our internalized identity as victims of history, to understand that, for the first time in millennia, we do not need to give in to our fight or flight reflex. We are powerful. We deserve to be powerful. The sacrifices of our loved ones helped us prevail. We no longer need to listen to the underdog’s internal monologue. In fact, as the regional Alpha, the underdog’s identity is only holding us back. We no longer need to fight like a cornered animal, teeth bared and barking. We’ve learned the hard way that hard power does not win all wars. We’ve learned that defusing our enemies takes more than just blowing them up. We can play the long-game. We can endure.

As one of the world’s leading technological powerhouses, with a citizenry that consistently ranks among the world’s highest in terms of happiness and health, we have the opportunity to shape our reality over time. To develop a strategy. To grow our soft power. To build regional partnerships with those who, like us, have learned that power has its limits. To work towards victory, diligently, without the existential fear we grew intimate with in Exile. To work with our allies to shape the region for the betterment of all of its residents, with the confidence we have earned through blood and sweat. To normalize. To mature. To find a path towards peace.

After 78 years, I believe we are finally on the cusp of achieving independence: independence from fear, from victimhood, from the reflexive reaction of the beaten and downtrodden. I believe this new approach, from a place of power recognizing its limits, from confidence and patience, will finally enable us to make the strategic moves to neutralize our enemies and lay the grounds for normalization.

Writing Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza taught me that Israelis are ready for this next phase. Ready to leave behind the comfortable habit of the victim’s mentality and mature into the nation among nations the founders of the Zionist movements envisioned. To dream again. To build the model society we came back to our ancestral land to build. To build the home our children deserve.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)