I don’t expect Israel to achieve victory in Gaza or in Lebanon or anywhere (if victory is understood as vanquishing the foe). Given Israel’s location (surrounded by hostile nations), there’s no ultimate lasting peaceful solution to the conflicts between Jews and their neighbors (unless one side destroys the other). The best that Israel can do is to survive.
Life is usually like this. There’s rarely an ultimate victory over our foes. We live in conflicts of interest that cannot be reconciled. The best we can do is to survive.
When I converted to Judaism (1993), a part of me thought I had won. I had not. I had just begun a different phase of my life. After a while, my idealistic conceptions of Judaism melted away (by 2001), and after putting it off as long as I could, I recognized that I was the problem, that there was nothing outside of me that was going to rescue me from me, and then the real work began (about 2011).
Along the way, I experienced significant victories (I love practicing Judaism and I feel at home among Jews, I began Alexander Technique lessons in 2008 and a lifetime of bad posture and muscle ache started to fade away and I stopped in March 2009 my daily intake of lithium, clonidine and clonazepam, I began 12-step programs in 2011 and developed some emotional sobriety, I began taking modafinil regularly in 2013 with significant cognitive benefit, I took positional release lessons in December of 2016 and developed increased physical ease and freedom as I integrated its practice into my daily routine, I bought an activator and guide book in 2017 and let go of expensive physical therapy, I began taking beef organ capsules in June of 2021 and a lifetime of health problems disappeared within two weeks, and I got diagnosed with ADHD in October 2023 and a lifetime of ADHD problems melted away with medication).
As Gaza death toll mounts, Israelis look in vain for any sign of victory
IDF bombs urban refugee camps, UN agency warns of famine risk and skirmishes on Lebanon border intensifyIsraeli planes bombed refugee camps in Gaza on Saturday as its troops expanded ground operations and tens of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes, setting the stage for a new year as bloody and destructive as the last three months of 2023.
The threat of wider escalation also looms large over the region, as skirmishes on the northern boundary with Lebanon intensify, and Israeli officials have hinted that the “diplomatic hourglass” is running out to reach a negotiated solution.
For now there seems little hope of even a temporary break in attacks, even after Egypt hosted leaders for talks last week and pushed plans for a staged break in the war.
