66 Years: We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Independence for Israel isn’t an endgame. I can hardly imagine even the non-religious founders of the Jewish state thought their work was done, much less in their own lifetimes. They saw war within hours of their declaration, so I can imagine how they saw war repeating itself in the years to come.

The Israeli Air Force crosses all of Israel from north to south, in honor of the country’s 63rd Independence Day in 2011/5771. (Image CC-BY 2.0 the Israel Defense Forces, via WIkimedia Commons)

But Israel’s goals weren’t just to win wars of survival and definitely not of conquest. The Hebrew Republic, which some people have tried to nickname it, was destined in the eyes of its founders to continue building up its own capacity to endure through the repatriation of millions of Jews in future generations.

Israel isn’t at the end of its period of foundation. Seeking peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan and anyone else certainly factors into how Israel will evolve, but no one should think the country is turning the page on its growth and reach in the world.

The cliché that the Jewish people are a ‘light unto the nations’ still informs where Israel’s biggest players, leaders and advocates are going to take the country in the future.

On the United States’ 66th birthday, their president came from the then-prominent Whig Party, Texas was still not a part of the Union, and the US government was fighting the Seminoles in the last year of a seven-year-long war. These are archaic elements of American politics. I can imagine that when the State of Israel is 238 as the USA will be in July, history will have turned in Israel’s favor, by the grace of God.