For Israelis, “Never again” has never been merely a historical slogan.

And October 7, 2023, made that painfully clear. For much of the Jewish world, the Holocaust had become something that belonged to history books, museums and memorial ceremonies. The images were black and white. The survivors were growing older. The perpetrators were dead.

The Holocaust was remembered, mourned and taught.

But it was also, increasingly, something that had happened then.

For Israelis, however, the possibility of mass Jewish slaughter never completely disappeared into history. The threats came in different forms and from different directions. Wars were fought against armies that openly contemplated the destruction of the Jewish state. Terrorists attacked buses, restaurants, markets and nightclubs. Rockets were fired at Israeli cities. The intifadas brought suicide bombings into the daily consciousness of an entire generation.

Israelis did not have the luxury of believing that the Jewish vulnerability to mass violence had ended in 1945. They knew better, and yet, Israelis are human. When the guns become quieter, life begins to return to normal. Children go to school, people go to work, Tel Aviv becomes Tel Aviv again. And Israelis return to doing what Israelis do exceptionally well:

In Israel, there is almost a comical relationship between internal disagreement and national identity. If you haven’t complained enough about the government, the Haredim, someone may reasonably question whether you are actually Israeli. When Israel feels relatively safe, Israelis can begin to forget why that safety exists in the first place; the enemy does not disappear, only the noise becomes quieter.

That distinction is crucial.

During Israel’s great moments of national danger, internal arguments suddenly become smaller. During the Six-Day War, the Yom........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)