I'll start by saying that I wasn't born here. Not even close- I immigrated to Israel at age 21 from the US, that small country that has some connection with Israel…despite the fact that my Israeli mother spoke to me in Hebrew (I answered in English), and despite that fact that I received a strong Jewish, Zionist and Hebrew education in school, and despite the fact that I made a number of visits to Israel in my childhood to spend time with the many relatives here, it was only when I came to Israel and went into the army did I understand the whole truth: no matter how much I wanted it to be otherwise I was not "really Israeli". At times I was "almost there" as my Hebrew was quite good, but within a few minutes of any conversation the truth became clear that "they" were Israeli and I was something different, unlike those "Certified Israelis".
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I will make the picture a bit more complicated. I am embarrassed to say and recall that as a child and teenager that I was a type of class leader and instigator in poking fun at the many Israelis who made their way to our Jewish communities in those days- some as Hebrew and Jewish Studies teachers, others as summer camp counselors, still others as children of "Yordim"- a somewhat pejorative term in those days for Israelis who left Israel for the "easy life" of America and Europe. I am ashamed to recall just how active I was in laughing at these Israelis who spoke English with an accent (which was odd since both my parents had heavy accents in English!), I would laugh at the way the Kibbutzniks came to play basketball with us in the "Paladium" hiking boots (did they not realize that this was a definite "no-no"!). I would poke fun and instigate others at how these Israeli teachers could not really control our rowdy class of Jewish-American kids. I was a child, a teenager, I had a swift tongue and I used it in a fresh and unkindly manner. Don't recall too much compassion coming out of me then…too bad, all water under the bridge of the 1960's and 70's.
I immigrated to Israel, not once but three times. I left, not once but twice. As it looks now, with nearly 25 years of staying put here that this is it, although who knows what may lie ahead of us on the other side of the tunnel…
During these years I have met and gotten to know thousands of Israelis, in Israel and around the world, from all walks of life and situations. So…are Israelis obnoxious? In my opinion, and in a totally over-generalized way in many ways….yes! There is something in the Jewish DNA that has evolved in this land that consumes its people that has created so many obnoxious people, let's face it. If you live here- or even if you don't- you have certainly seen them on the road, in the bank, post office, public places, places of work, etc., they are everywhere…aggressive, loud, pushy, opinionated, ego-centered, nobody else exists except for them…easy to argue, easy to fight with, easy to rip you off in business, winners of the Nobel Prize for lack of patience, nervous, tense, cut you off in mid-sentence, winners of attention deficit award for people unlike them, want everything NOW, hopelessly fatalistic and short on hope for the future…in a country with a climate that is too hot, traffic jams that are too long, prices that are too high, enemies who are painfully too many and too dangerous…
You don't believe me? Do your own survey amongst Americans, European and Asians who meet Israelis selling them stuff from the Dead Sea in shopping centers, or Jewish communities in the US- go ahead and ask them, sorry to say but you are probably not going to get a great reception….in short I would venture to say that the "typical Israeli" is not so typically appreciated…
But, on the other hand, and boy is there ever an "other hand"…
Are you aware of what has been going on here for the lasts 3 weeks during the "Operation Protective Edge"- pretty dumb name in English- let's call it the War in Gaza? I am at a loss of words to describe that intensity of feeling and pride how the people of this country have risen to the occasion to unite during these very difficult times…you have to be here and see it to believe it! This is what happens when the people of this country feel threatened, when they find themselves under unceasing danger of rockets being fired and tunnels being dug from under their homes with blood-hungry terrorists coming from nowhere headed for their next massacre in Israeli villages.
Volunteers in the tens of thousands preparing huge amounts of food, hot meals for a population as large as the Unites States, people heading south with makeshift devices to help soldiers have the opportunity to finally have a shower, a haircut, hear some music, what have you. People how have left their homes only for the purpose of giving, supporting, helping and showing their live for the soldiers, who are our sons and daughters, soldiers who are sacrificing their very lives in order that Israelis can be spared the fear, trauma and danger of rockets flying overhead.
And the funerals…how painful…one solider who was killed, was a "lone soldier" from the US, who was here without family. One person wrote on facebook that he wanted to encourage people to honor his memory by attending the funeral- 30,000 people turned out!! They came because they wanted to show their appreciation, their love for someone they did not know but who they knew came to help Israel exist and continue to exist. One funeral after the other, thousands of people who come, most with no connection to the deceased, only that he was way too young to go. One can feel the strong embrace, the tears that flow from so many hearts…families of the deceased know and feel that they are loved even in life's loneliest moments, they know that they are not alone.
The wounded are visited by hundreds of strangers, everywhere you go there is someone offering, doing, asking if and how they can help…hundreds of thousands of Israelis are under rocket fire but they endure, they carry out their daily lives and continue to support the military in its efforts to bring about a safer existence for them and so many others. Even on the micro-level, with so many people the parents or family of combat soldiers in and around Gaza it is hard to concentrate and people understand, they accept, they support…it is all for the effort that people understand, appreciate and hope to assist.
One cannot complete these words without noting the soldiers themselves; those young people aged 19, 20, 21 as well as those more than twice their age, who have willingly gone to put their very lives on the line between Gaza and Israel. They have done it, and with the strongest of motivation, because they understand, trust and believe in what they are doing, despite the danger and fear. As a father of one such soldier who is somewhere between his home and Gaza right now in these very tense days I can say…that today I feel and understand "the other hand" more than ever before.
The "other hand" of the Israeli is clearer and more compelling to me than ever before. I deeply know that if and when I will ever be in true danger, hardship, threat…if I should ever have the unfortunate experience of getting stranded in a car at 3 AM in the middle of nowhere, I know that there are so so many people who will come to my assistance. This country of Israelis continues to be full of obnoxiousness but…when push comes to shove…there is a very deep human soul that is here beneath the surface, above and around us and IT is the oxygen that we breathe daily in this difficult part of the world, whether we notice it or not. It is true that people here can drive you nuts, but…in the moment of truth…with all the niceties, politeness, smiles, comfort and order behind us, this a country with a "protective edge". A big heart drives the "obnoxiousness" here but it also drives the huge heart that makes this nation tick…
Even if we don't sleep much at night we can still sleep quietly. A paradox? Of course! But on the other hand…
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