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Israelis have become experts in memorializing catastrophes. Can we also learn to build a better society in their wake?
Part and parcel of life in Israel, particularly as an IDF officer, is finding yourself sitting in memorial ceremonies and visiting the homes of heartbroken families. Too many of them. For fallen soldiers. For victims of terror. A small country that is less than 80 years old should not have this many bereaved families, but this of course is our reality.
Remembering loss and disaster is a kind of expertise – indeed not the only one – that we as Israelis wish we did not have. It is the sad result of the many wars and horrific acts of terror we have experienced over the years. Yet, we experienced the largest terror attack on civilian communities in our history – a coordinated attack on civilians whose date is now synonymous with that event – after our American friends endured the same. We will soon mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks.
As American and Israeli soldiers fought together earlier this year, I often thought about the fact that most of them were born after 9/11. And so as we in Israel prepare to mark just three years since October 7, I’ve found myself thinking about how the horrors of October 7 will shape our own society a quarter-century from now, about what will be the same and what will be different from the experience of our American friends following 9/11.
