It’s better to be feared than to be loved, if you are a small state in the Middle East. In Israel’s neighborhood, one can add hated, because that’s what the Jews have faced for at least 100 years. You can also add respect, because Israel is respected as a formidable military power. Today, Israel is hated by some, respected by others, and feared by its enemies.

When did Israel graduate from being a small, relatively weak entity with a tiny population (600,000 Jews in 1948) to perhaps the most potent power in the the Middle East, with 7.2 million Jews, 1.9 million Muslim Arabs, .2 million Christian Arabs, and .5 million non-Jews, who include the Druze, who are among our most fierce soldiers, Christians, Bahai, and those of no religion. Israel’s Muslim/Christian Arab citizens are able to volunteer for military/national service and some small number do. In addition, there are thousands of volunteers to the IDF from around the world who want to do their part to defend Israel (aka lone soldiers). Many of them subsequently become Israeli citizens.

Israel has cooperative partners among Middle Eastern states based on the Abraham Accords. The Emirates and Bahrain are quite significant. The third, Morocco, is the former home of a significant number of Israelis.  Those three are all monarchies. Sudan, the fourth, is war-torn but is anxious to participate in the ‘club.’ 

Note: Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Israel which are little more than non-aggression pacts. Relations between them and Israel, especially by Egypt, are quite cold. Lately, Egypt has been moving troops and weapons close to Israel’s southern border, a flashing warning sign. 

Of course, the ‘big dog’ among the Arabs is Saudi Arabia, which leads the Arab world based on its prodigious riches and the very significant fact that the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are both located there. In the days just before the barbaric 10/7/23 surprise attack across Israel’s southern border, “Saudi Crown Prince

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