A Country That Keeps Rising

I was speaking with an American colleague recently, and I mentioned something I really appreciate about Israel. It might sound funny to say this now with the Iran War, but it still rings true. Israel feels like a country that’s constantly rising. You look out the window and see 20 cranes in the skyline. It’s growing faster than anywhere else in the world.

The difference becomes especially striking when you take a road trip across Israel and then compare it to one in the US, and the numerous dead cities everywhere especially in the Midwest. That contrast makes the phrase “Make America Great Again” feel so visceral and popular that it can win the Presidency.

In Israel, the idea of “Make Israel Great Again” doesn’t really make sense. There’s nothing to restore because it’s already thriving and on a rise. No politician here could win with a slogan like that. It would be more like “Keep Israel Great“.

When I first started coming here on business trips, I was struck by just how much was happening. Seeing how far the country had come since I last visited 20 years ago. I had a 20 year gap between visits. It was a profound experience to see how different Israel became.

There’s a lot the world, and especially the United States, could learn from Israel. What surprises me is how little many Americans, even those working in national security or foreign policy, actually know about Israel. Given how deep and strategic the U.S.-Israel relationship is, that disconnect feels strange. It’s a blind spot in American understanding that’s both surprising and consequential.