When people speak about Israel’s strength, they usually reach for the obvious examples. The Israel Defense Forces. The Iron Dome. The Air Force. Mossad. Cybersecurity. Medical innovation. Intelligence. Technology.

All of these are important, but after years of watching Israel closely, visiting the country repeatedly, speaking with Israelis and advocating for the country from abroad, I have come to believe that Israel possesses another strategic asset that receives far too little attention.

That may sound almost ridiculous when discussing a country surrounded by threats, repeatedly attacked by terrorists and subjected to an international level of scrutiny that few other nations experience. But perhaps that is exactly the point.

Israel’s enemies have never wanted merely to kill Israelis. Terrorism has a larger objective. It seeks to make ordinary life impossible. It wants Israelis to become afraid of buses, restaurants, concerts, markets, schools, borders and eventually of their own future.

The most powerful answer is therefore not only defeating the terrorist.

It is getting back on the bus. It is opening the restaurant again. It is sending children back to school. It is celebrating another wedding. It is starting another company. It is having another baby. It is complaining about traffic on the Ayalon. It is planning next summer while enemies are promising that Israel will not have one.

There is something profoundly Israeli about this refusal to surrender everyday life. Foreign observers often misunderstand it. They see Israelis sitting in cafés shortly after terrible events and sometimes interpret the images as evidence that things cannot really be that bad. They see crowded beaches, nightlife in Tel Aviv........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)