Israel as the West's Last Line of Defense
The article argues that, amid a Western identity crisis and the rise of fundamentalist Islamism, Israel is doing more than defending itself. It is described as standing at the front line of a broader struggle over freedom, identity, democracy, and the future direction of the West.
It says the world order that has defined recent decades is weakening. The United States and Russia are portrayed as unable to secure decisive victories, with Russia failing to defeat Ukraine after years of war and the United States learning that military, technological, and economic power does not guarantee success in a complex reality. The author says the central challenge of the 21st century is not only military, economic, or diplomatic, but ideological.
The piece contrasts a confused West, where values such as family, community, nation, tradition, civic responsibility, and belonging are under constant scrutiny, with the fundamentalist Islamist world, which is presented as having a clear identity and goals. It also warns that the West cannot claim to have found a perfect formula for improving the world, citing the Holocaust as proof that advanced, educated societies can still produce profound evil.
Against that backdrop, Israel is described as a unique model, a young and innovative state with ancient roots, combining democracy and modernity with historical and spiritual depth. Its society, the article says, includes secular and religious Jews, traditional and ultra-Orthodox communities, new immigrants and veterans, and Jews alongside various minorities. Though the country is imperfect and often turbulent, it repeatedly seeks balance between freedom and responsibility, rights and duties, identity and openness, tradition and renewal.
The article says the world needs not just power but direction and meaning. It urges the United States and Europe to study the Israeli example and frames support for Israel as more than an alliance, calling it an investment in defending the values on which Western civilization rests.
