(Published in ABC on May 9, 2008)

Israel turns 60. It has not had an easy existence. As compensation for the Holocaust, the Jewish people got a state but surrounded by archenemies. Nevertheless, it was at least a state from where it could mount a defense. And Israel did know how to do that well. From the very moment of its birth, Israel had to fight for its survival. Sixty years later, it must carry on with that task.

Israel is frequently criticized. A decadent and pacifist Left cannot understand the yearning of this people as a whole and without political distinctions, to have a home and be able to live peacefully – even if that means to resort to the use of force when necessary.

Yet the world should be grateful that Israel had defended its existence and that it goes on existing. Israel’s enemies are also the West’s enemies. After all, Israel is a Western country, only that it is enclaved in the Middle East.

In 1981, by destroying the Osirak nuclear reactor, Israel succeeded in that Saddam Hussein could not get the bomb when he wanted; by fighting against Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, Israel is putting a stop to the natural growth of Islamism in the area; by bombing Syria’s secret nuclear power plant last September, Israel ended another attempt at nuclearization in the region and exposed the complex structural framework of atomic proliferation with North Korea and Iran at the root of it all; by advancing diplomatic measures against the Iranian nuclear program, Israel reminds us all that it is possible to end the ayatollahs’ ambitions in a peaceful manner. It would suffice to be serious about sanctions.

If Israel had not beaten Syria’s air force in its day, as it did with Syria’s army – and the Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi and Saudi Arabian armies, too – today Israel would not exist. And without Israel, the whole region would be in the hands of unscrupulous tyrants and radical Islamist groups whose attention would be directly aimed against us. Israel has been instrumental as our parapet. Israel will be even more instrumental in an ever radicalized area.

©2008 Translated by Miryam Lindberg