Israel’s Moment of Truth

The nation that disappeared from the map with the fall of the Second Temple in 70CE returned in 1948 as a state that vowed Never Again. Never again would the Jewish people be without a home to call their own, threatened with periodic pogroms, and very recently annihilation. The State of Israel is not the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with their 10 and two tribes. It began as a Babel with the returned diaspora. Israel has survived amidst hostile neighbours but after 77 years, with its Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) on May 8, surviving is still the country’s biggest preoccupation. Meanwhile, it built an economy and technological prowess to rival the best—its $53,000 per capita GDP is higher than Britain’s or France’s. The impact of its innovations and inventions in agriculture, IT, military hardware, etc is global. Its writers, filmmakers, musicians and scientists are among the most respected. It publishes more books than most other countries, including the US. And it is the Middle East’s only democracy, where today Arab Israelis are doing better than ever before as parliamentarians and professionals. But for the Gaza War and an adamant government, it would be a land without shadows.

A Victory Day with a Difference

Since Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, Victory Day in Europe, or VE Day, has been a solemn occasion across the continent. It was never about the defeat of Hitler alone but also remembrance of the dead and the lost, and of the Holocaust. Russia, which suffered more than most as a country, marks it on May 9. But while this year’s VE Day, marking 80 years since the end of World War II, was also special because Germany declared it a public holiday, the mood was determined by the uncertainty ahead: the unceasing Ukraine war and the perceived threat to European security from Moscow at a time the US under Donald Trump refuses to guarantee European security unconditionally and in perpetuity. The French defence ministry said: “The 80th anniversary of the victory of 8 May 1945 implies, more than ever, a double responsibility… To the last surviving witnesses of the war, and to the younger generation.” Those last surviving witnesses had come to believe that the continent might not see a full-scale war again in their lifetime. This year, so far, Europe has struggled to come to terms with several new realities, none good.

Merz in a Mess

A shadow has fallen across the future of Germany’s new government and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who failed to win the vote to take office in the first attempt, falling short by six votes. Merz made it in the second attempt, but whoever among his CDU colleagues and SPD allies didn’t vote for him the first time, did him damage. It was unprecedented in post-war German history and Merz looks a lot weaker now as he prepares to deal with a country in a long-term recession and on the edge over immigration—and a world defined by Donald Trump.

Adolf HitlerDonald TrumpFriedrich MerzgeopoliticsHolocaustIsraelThe GlobetrotterYom Ha’atzmaut