As sirens continue to sound across the country, Tel Aviv does what Tel Aviv does best. The cafés have laden tables outside, and the parks are filled with youngsters sitting in the sunshine. It is a habit ingrained in Israelis from an early age. They have been doing this for 80 years, and the answer is the history of Israel.
From the earliest days of the state, when Arab armies crossed the border the day after independence was declared – through wars, intifadas, waves of rockets from Gaza and Lebanon, and now a second war with Iran – Israelis have lived with the understanding that normal life and national emergency are connected. The distance between the two can diminish in a matter of seconds, with only the wail of a siren. And yet, when that siren sounds, something remarkable happens. People move quickly into shelters. Doors close and phones come out as people check on their loved ones elsewhere. It is Israeli resilience. There is a kind of national muscle memory at work.
One should not misread that as levity at the situation. Many feel real fear for their lives, many run holding their children in their arms, and flights and plans are disrupted. For many people outside Israel, particularly in Western countries, this reality is difficult to fully grasp. Few societies in the West have lived with sustained, existential threats overhead. War, where it exists, is often distant, seen only through social media apps or the news. The idea of daily life continuing under the possibility of incoming missiles is, understandably, foreign. In Israel, it is familiar. That is Israeli resilience.
For decades, Israel has invested in the systems that keep its people alive. Through reinforced safe rooms in homes, public shelters in every neighborhood, a layered missile defense network, intelligence capabilities that reach far beyond its borders, and an air force trained for precisely these scenarios, Israel does its best to keep its citizens safe. The Mossad, the IDF, and the entire security establishment have operated with a long-term understanding that moments like this come.
But infrastructure alone does not explain why Tel Aviv is thriving, nor why Israelis try to go about their day as normally as possible. There is also a societal component. Israelis can disagree with each other, often loudly, about almost everything. Yet when faced with an external threat, a coming together is hard to miss. Support for the operation in Iran runs deep, cutting across many of the usual lines. For many, there is a shared sense that this moment demands endurance and patience. If Iran can be dealt with as it needs to be, then in the long term, it will be better for all of us. That is Israeli resilience.