Why Israel will never back down 

It wasn’t just the sights in Kfar Aza that shocked me. When I visited the kibbutz in December, 75 days after Hamas terrorists murdered 61 of its 950 residents and kidnapped 19, I was stunned by how short the drive was from Jerusalem — just around 60 miles. Of course, it’s not lost on Israelis that while people in other Western countries drive 60 miles to their family holiday, in the Jewish state, a drive that distance from the country’s center takes you to Gaza. 

While this fact is seemingly self-evident, its implications for Israelis’ sense of security appears to be lost on many in the West — particularly among those increasingly bewildered by Israel’s continued refusals to end its war against Hamas. International pressure, the logic goes, is immense and only increasing — from U.S. President Joe Biden’s threat to halt weapons shipments to Israel, to the genocide case at the International Court of Justice, to the prospect of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

So why won’t Israel listen to international pleas to end the war? 

If, like most fair-minded people, you don’t view Israel as a rogue terrorist state, this can be a baffling question. But for Israelis, this is not simply another war or policy debate. Rather, it cuts through to the very purpose — and viability — of Israel’s existence. 

Having fled a Europe that was promising an increasingly dark fate for its Jewish population, Israel’s founders understood that Jewish powerlessness was no longer viable. Auschwitz and Treblinka proved them tragically right. There was only one solution: a sovereign Jewish state in the land of Israel.  

After nearly 2,000 years of exile and persecution, Israel promised to radically alter the Jewish condition: Jews could now defend themselves; they would determine their own destiny. 

This sentiment was only bolstered after 850,000 Jews — who along with their descendants make up around half of Israel’s Jewish population today — were expelled from their homes in the Middle East and North Africa following Israel’s founding. 

And while Israelis pride themselves on living in the first Jewish society in two millennia that can defend itself, the existential fear built into the Jewish psyche is far from gone. As Israeli philosopher Micah Goodman wrote in his new Hebrew book, “The Eighth Day: Israel After October 7,” the horrors of the massacre awakened Israelis to “the fragility of Israel’s existence.” But more than that, Goodman observed, on October 7, Israelis “were witnesses to a reality in which there was no state” of Israel. 

While much of the world has moved on from the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Israelis have not. When, post-October 7, Israelis describe Hamas as an intolerable threat on the border, they mean it in the most literal sense of the word. Israelis understand that their military’s ability to defeat Hamas will determine whether or not Israel has a future in the region.  

After all, the Jewish state can secure its existence in the Middle East only if the forces that wish to destroy it are deterred. But if Israel loses the war in Gaza, Goodman explained, “the Middle East loses its fear” of Israel “and Israelis lose their trust in the project called Israel.” In other words, “if there is no victory, there is no survival.” 

And no amount of international pressure or outrage can convince Israelis to sacrifice their very existence. 

If Israelis feel they are being forced to choose between international opprobrium and death, they’ll choose the former without thinking twice. As one senior Israeli official said last year, Israelis will “fight with our fingernails if we have to — we have no choice.” 

Perhaps more than any other nation, Israelis understand that nobody else can be trusted to secure the Jewish state’s existence. No one came to Israel’s rescue in 1967. Nor did Israel receive much thanks for striking Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, which prevented Saddam Hussein from obtaining nuclear weapons. (To the contrary, senior American officials called for the U.S. to punish Israel, while the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the strike.) 

Indeed, in the country’s short but turbulent history, Israelis have learned to believe their enemies’ threats, and not to rely on their friends’ promises. Gaza has proven to be a case in point.  

In 2004, prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the strip, U.S. President George W. Bush promised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that should Israel pull out of Gaza, “the United States will lead efforts, working together with Jordan, Egypt, and others in the international community, to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism, dismantle terrorist organizations, and prevent the areas from which Israel has withdrawn from posing a threat that would have to be addressed by any other means.” 

Suffice to say that promise was not kept. 

None of this is to suggest that Israelis are indifferent to civilian suffering in Gaza, that there is no domestic debate over a hostage release deal or that Israeli politicians are immune to international pressure. But international pressure only works insofar as Israelis believe it will bring an outcome they can live with. Surrendering to an existential threat is far from it. 

The Jewish people exist today despite continuous attempts throughout history to eradicate them. Israelis are well aware that, had they followed every international dictate since 1948, it’s unlikely that Israel would have survived into its 77th year. And much like their ancestors, they have no plans to give in. 

Josh Feldman is an Australian writer who focuses primarily on Israeli and Jewish issues.