The Israeli Spirit the World Needs So Much. Please, Let It Not Disappear

There is something inexplicably powerful about the Israeli spirit, an energy, a warmth, a light that radiates far beyond its borders. I first felt it the moment I set foot in Israel. Though I had lived abroad before, in Germany, it was in Israel where something deep inside me shifted. I fell in love, instantly and completely.

After returning to the Netherlands, it took over three decades for me to visit again, first in 1982, and then only in 2015. That trip was six months after the founding of Time to Stand Up for Israel, and since then, I have returned 22 times. Twenty-two journeys to what feels like home. For me, each visit is like taking a vitamin pill, restoring my energy, filling my heart with hope, joy, and strength.

Israel is unlike any other place I’ve known. A small country, surrounded by enormous challenges, yet overflowing with........

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