Israel’s Greatest Sin: Success
The greatest indictment of Israel is not what she has done wrong, but what she has done right.
The more successful Israel becomes—in technology, science, medicine, economics, agriculture, intelligence, and military innovation—the more she is envied, hated, and maligned. A tiny Jewish state, reborn from the ashes of the Holocaust and surrounded by enemies determined to destroy it, has accomplished what many far larger and wealthier nations have failed to achieve.
And in the most basic sense, that should not surprise us.
Is envy not one of the oldest and most persistent flaws in the human psyche? The Tenth Commandment speaks directly to it: “You shall not covet.” Judaism understood thousands of years ago that human beings would inevitably compare themselves with others and desire what others possess. But Judaism does not pretend these impulses can simply be wished away. It teaches something more demanding: we must learn to control them rather than allow them to control us.
That distinction is central to Tanya, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi’s foundational work on Jewish spirituality. He distinguishes between the tzadik, the righteous person whose evil impulses have completely been subordinated or transformed, and the benoni, the ordinary person who continues to experience those impulses but refuses to allow them to govern his thoughts, speech, or actions.
Most of us are benonim. We may experience envy, anger, resentment, temptation, or jealousy. The existence of an impulse does not define our character. What we do with that impulse does.
The same principle can be applied to nations.
Israel’s extraordinary accomplishments should be a source of admiration. Instead, they have too often become a source of resentment. Nations invest in Israel because they recognize stability, innovation, and results. They share intelligence because Israel has proven itself a trusted partner. They purchase Israeli weapons and technology because they work. They collaborate with Israeli scientists, entrepreneurs, and universities because Israel repeatedly produces breakthroughs that benefit the world. Every new partnership strengthens Israel’s economy, expands her diplomatic reach, and makes the campaign to isolate her more difficult.
Israel’s enemies understand this, which is precisely why they have shifted the battlefield. Unable to defeat Israel and the United States through conventional military power, Iran and its terrorist proxies have turned to global warfare of another kind: the battle for public opinion.
The strategy is sophisticated, well-funded, and relentless. Demonize Israel. Rewrite history. Strip October 7 of its context. Turn aggressors and terrorists into victims and victims into oppressors. Exploit every civilian casualty while ignoring the terrorists who deliberately place civilians in harm’s way. Repeat the same accusations often enough and, eventually, even demonstrably false claims begin to acquire the patina of truth.
And there are plenty of willing accomplices.
Universities, media organizations, political activists, international institutions, and social-media influencers have too often become echo chambers for a narrative whose ultimate objective is not merely criticism of Israeli policy, but the de-legitimization of Israel itself.
The objective is clear: if Israel cannot be destroyed militarily, make her politically and morally indefensible. Convince Americans that Israel is an embarrassment rather than an ally. Convince Jews that supporting Israel is somehow incompatible with liberal values. Convince Western governments that standing with Israel carries more political risk than abandoning her. Isolate Israel sufficiently that her enemies can achieve through political warfare what they could never accomplish on the battlefield. That is why this is not simply a war of guns, missiles, drones, and soldiers; it is a war for the moral integrity of the world.
For Israel, the answer cannot be endless appeasement, apologies, or attempts to satisfy those whose ultimate objective is to see Israel disappear. Israel must continue to draw upon the qualities that enabled her not only to survive, but to prosper. That means maintaining her strength, innovation, intelligence, economic resilience, and an unwavering determination to defend herself.
When terrorist organizations and regimes openly committed to Israel’s destruction possess the ability to wage war, that capability must be decisively dismantled. There can be no lasting peace while those who seek Israel’s annihilation retain both the means and the will to pursue it. The world must finally understand a simple truth: peace is not created by rewarding aggression. It is created when aggression no longer has the capacity to succeed.
For two thousand years, Jews prayed for a return to Zion. When that return finally came, Israel did not simply survive; she flourished. She turned deserts into productive farmland, created technologies that changed the world, developed one of the world’s most formidable military, built a vibrant democracy, and became a global center of innovation. That is precisely what her enemies cannot forgive. But envy does not confer moral authority. Hatred does not create legitimacy. And propaganda does not erase history.
The Jewish people have returned to their ancestral homeland. They have built a nation that contributes enormously to the world and have paid an extraordinary price to defend it. Therefore, Israel has every right not merely to survive, but to thrive.
And for that, Israel needs no one’s permission.