Australian Jewish News: Visiting Israel an Education

 THE signs of Israel’s perpetual struggle for survival can be quite easy to overlook. Yes, there is the security grilling before you board the El Al flight and the circuitous flight path, around Arab countries so as to overfly water all the way to Eilat at the very southern tip of Israel.

But on a recent visit – my third in 25 years – my first impressions were of a country doing very well. Seen from the air, the centre of the country is a tidy checkerboard of productive agricultural land – dotted with towns and factories – much like you would see anywhere in Western Europe. There is a flash new airport terminal, the roads are first rate, and Jerusalem is packed full of handsome, well-designed public buildings in the pleasing golden colour of the local limestone.

First impressions can only take you so far. My visit – travelling as one of six MPs hosted by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council - also took in some much less appealing aspects of life in modern Israel. In Sderot, we saw the remnants of many of the rockets that are regularly launched into the town from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, less than a kilometre away. When the sirens sound to warn of an approaching rocket, you have just 15 seconds toget to safety.

On the northern border with Lebanon, we peered across at land where Hezbollah has reportedly stationed thousands of rockets and missiles. In cities and towns throughout Israel, we saw security guards and screening points outside many public places: shopping malls, hospitals, government buildings. We heard a grim account from a parent who had lost his daughter to a terrorist attack. With a deep, quiet anger he told us the attack was planned by a woman who was recently released from an Israeli jail and is now feted on Jordanian television as a hero.

On a visit to the West Bank, we saw the controversial security fence. Spending time with Palestinian officials, we were shown new Israeli settlements visible from Bethlehem; checkpoints which are randomly shut by the Israeli army; and a West Bank refugee camp. The security challenges Israel faces naturally leave a profound impression on a visitor to Israel. But what struck me most forcefully was the determination and willpower that run through the story of modern Israel. Even establishing the country required heroic effort; then immediately upon declaring its statehood in 1948, Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab states; and Israel has of course fought multiple wars since that time.

The determination,courage and hard work of its people have takenIsrael a long way in a short time.

Quite apart from the security threat, the country was tiny, much ofthe land it did have was inhospitable desert, water was scarce, and there were few natural resources. To have moulded a modern, prosperous nation of nearly eight million people (20 per cent of them not Jewish), and to have successfullyabsorbed several massive waves ofimmigration along the way, is an extraordinary feat. Israel continues to face challenges

so profound that in most nations they would be a paralysing distraction from normal life. Iran – a country whose president has called for Israelto be wiped off the map – is within one to two years of building a nuclear weapon. The Palestinian peace process appears stalemated. The socalled Arab Spring looks likely to bring Islamist parties to power in several Arab states that had previously been secular.

Israel’s non-security challenges are equally daunting. With a growing number of ultra-Orthodox choosing not to work or serve in the army, the rest of the population must shoulder a significant additional burden. The high cost of living and housing is a constant topic – and spilled over into a huge public protest movement last year.

Remarkably, Israel is prospering despite these profound challenges. Its record in generating high-tech businesses is extraordinary, with large numbers listed on the tech-friendly NASDAQ in the US. In sectors as diverse as defence, irrigation, water, satellite communications, wireless communications, biotech and software, Israel is a world leader. In agriculture, the quantity and quality of produce wrested from oftenunpromising soil is remarkable.

What lessons do I draw from my visit? Three stand out. First, a narrative which portrays Israelis as oppressors and Palestinians as victims is hopelessly simplistic. This is so for several reasons, but one is that as a democratic state with a free press, Israel examines its own failings – including during war – much more publicly than its enemies do. Secondly, the scale of what modern Israel has achieved, in just over 60years, is truly impressive. The country’s natural resources may be limited, but the determination, courage and hard work of its people have taken Israel a long way in a short time.

Thirdly, it is instructive to compare what has been achieved in Israel with the message that the Greens like to give us in Australia: our land is at (or over) its carrying capacity and we must immediately cease population growth or we risk catastrophic collapse. Israel supports 7.5 million people on around 20,000 square kilometres; Australia’s three times larger population occupies a landmass around 380 times as big as Israel. Israel has not had an easy existence; it does not have one now. To survive, the Israeli people have needed to show great determination. In turn, that determination has brought much more than survival: it has brought a vibrant, confident, successful, technically advanced nation. There is a lesson for all of us in Israel’s experience.

Paul Fletcher is the federal memberfor Bradfield, NSW.