The Price of an Extended War  

The cost of war is measured in many ways.  The most obvious measurement is how many of our troops have been killed? Today that number stands at just over 700 which includes those who were killed in the fighting in Israel on October 7^th itself.

Yet there are other measures as well, less quantitative perhaps, but costly nonetheless.

Israel has a citizen army with just 150,000 active troops to which, in this war, we added 350,000 reservists.  Those reservists have families who have had to learn to live without them at home for many months; private businesses that have faltered or failed because the owner has not been present for almost a year; relationships that have soured given the prolonged absences; and the most incalculable of all, dreams that have been shattered as a result of this massive upheaval of so many lives.

Add to all of this, of course, is the fact that tens of thousands of people from the north of the country have not lived in their homes for over 10 months given the need to have been evacuated from the area under daily aerial attack by Hizballah.

Of course, those are the personal effects of the war.  On a national level, the economy has been negatively impacted, tourism is down dramatically, investors are more cautious not knowing what the future will bring and inflation has eaten into the reduced purchasing power of many families.

Yet, we live here in two parallel universes.  The war universe described above and daily living universe where life goes on.  Infrastructure development continues at a fast pace, restaurants and cafes are doing a brisk business, housing prices are up 6% since the start of the war and even at the inflated air fares being charged by ELAL (given almost no other carrier is flying here these days) every seat is taken.   Resiliency personified.

But people are making contingency plans as well.  I had lunch today with someone originally from Latin America who has lived here for 60 years, raised three children who are in high-tech and has made a good living for himself and his family.  A true Zionist in every way he told me he also has to make plans “just in case.” As such, he has bought a home in Greece and is about to buy a second one in Italy so that the family will have a place to go if they can no longer stay here.   Imagine, less than 80 years since Europe was a continent-wide death camp for Jews, some of our people now see Europe as a refuge if things turn south here.

Sad as all of this may be, I am an optimist and I believe our government will soon see the light and realize that this war must be ended whether or not we have achieved all of our objectives.  The powers that be need to acknowledge  that we have done significant damage to Hamas, that its time to bring our people home, return the living hostages to their families and the dead for proper burial here, and begin to build back what we had before all of this began almost 11 months ago.

Will we have to engage again with Hamas or another group like Hamas in the future?  Probably.  Choosing to live here and fulfill the destiny of our people carries a steep price, part of which is living in a constant state of readiness for war.  It may not be what we want, but it may very well be the only way we can survive long term in this promised land.  And I believe we have the capability, the drive, the commitment and the endurance to thrive even under these circumstances.

To help us to do so, we can be strengthened by the words of Isaiah (41:10) “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  May it be so.