With Israel’s 60th fast approaching, many stories are taking a “can Israel survive” angle – witness the Maclean’s cover story, the Economist‘s Special Report and the Atlantic‘s ”Unforgiven” by Jeffrey Goldberg.
Today, two op-eds at least take a semi-optimistic view: Israel faces tough challenges, but nothing that it can’t handle.
In the Globe and Mail, Marcus Gee (“Peace, Israel – a wish, a prayer, a possibility”   subscription required) says that Israelis should get over their current despondency and forge ahead. Yes, the hostility and disarray in the Palestinian camp is discouraging. Yes, the Iranian regime is hateful. Yes, the leaders of the Arab world are hidebound and stubborn. But Israel has faced far worse in its time. It has survived and been victorious in three major wars. It has prevailed through the worst wave of terrorism the world has seen.”
Although somewhat more pessimistic,  “As Israel marks Holocaust, future looms dark,” by the Daily Telegraph‘s Con Coughlin makes a similar point: that Israelis must find the courage to face their current problems. “[D]eep in [the Israelis'] hearts they know they will need all the courage and fortitude that has got them this far if they are to withstand the grave challenges that still lie ahead.”
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