‘Somewhere In Between’ Optimism And Pessimism

As Israel celebrates, the glass seems more full than empty.

Orit Elgavi and her daughter, Hodaya, 2, in a Jerusalem playground on the eve of Israel’s Memorial Day. Elgavi says living in Israel is a paradox, with wonderful people and corrupt politicians. Michele Chabin

by Michele Chabin
Israel Correspondent

Jerusalem — After all the hype and fanfare, angst-filled op-eds and petitions demanding that the government spend less money on events marking Israel’s 60th anniversary, Israelis decided to observe their country’s milestone much the same way they do every year — with a somber, tearful tribute to the country’s fallen soldiers on Memorial Day followed by low-key family barbecues and hikes on Independence Day.
If Israelis are in a less celebratory mood — as some pundits have suggested — it was not clearly evident during the 60th year’s opening event: a sound-and-light show on the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem followed by fireworks.
Hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists flooded the city center two weeks ago, paralyzing traffic three nights running. The

mood was festive and decidedly patriotic.
Perhaps because the young immigrants who arrived in Israel during its formative years and built the country are now grandparents in their 60s and 70s, the air is filled with nostalgia. Last week, Israel TV aired the results of a nationwide 60th song contest devoted to finding the best Israeli song ever written. Among the top 10 was Gali Atari’s melodic “Ain Li Eretz Acheret” (“I Have No Other Country”), while the winner was Naomi Shemer’s soulful “Jerusalem of Gold,” which every Israeli child learns in kindergarten.
Although Israelis seem fairly satisfied with their lot, about a third would consider a change of scenery, given the option. A poll published in the daily Yediot Achronot this week found that 91 percent of Israelis are content with their lives, but that 36 percent would consider moving to another country to acquire a better standard of living.
Presumably some are university lecturers, artists and other professionals, who can earn much higher salaries abroad than they do in Israel. One in four Israeli academics work abroad, according to Tel Aviv University Professor Dan Ben-David and the Center for Economic Policy Research.
In a recent article in the Atlantic magazine, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg noted that a whopping 94 percent of Jewish Israelis said they are willing to fight for their country, compared to just 63 percent of Americans.
“If you look at the statistics, Israelis are generally optimistic,” says historian Michael Oren, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. “They have a lot of ‘citizen happiness’ that is almost unrivaled in the world. They lead the world in the number of people willing to defend the country, and the economy is robust. That’s why they’ve put up with [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert all this time. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
While the country’s security is nothing to write home about, “it’s better than it’s been in a long time, unless you live within missile range of Gaza,” Oren says. “You have to put it into an historical context.”
Oren, who wrote the best-selling “Six Days of War: June 1967” and the “Making of the Modern Middle East,” said pre-war 1967 Israel was a much less secure place than many contemporary Jews can imagine. “The country was surrounded by hostile Arab countries, it had no international allies, it faced a hostile Soviet bloc, a hostile China, a hostile India. There was no alliance with the U.S like there is today, and the economy was terrible.”
Today, Oren says, Israel has “excellent relations” with much of the international community, including, most importantly, the U.S. Its high-tech market is booming, and so is its economy. “I think Israelis are more optimistic than some would have you think,” Oren says emphatically.
Not that things are perfect.
One out of every four Israelis lives in poverty and the national school system is a mess. Gas prices are through the roof and the price of food and housing is climbing. Since the government sprung the Second Lebanon War on the public in the summer of 2006 without any warning, people feel less secure and worry that a war — this time with Syria or Iran — could be around the corner.
Still, average Israelis say they can live with the paradox because the quality of life here is very high and because, quite simply, Israel is home.
“Am I optimistic or pessimistic? I’m somewhere in between,” Orit Elgavi said with a smile while pushing her 2-year-old daughter, Hodaya, on a swing.
Hodaya, who is unusually verbal for her age, was singing “Hatikva,” the country’s national anthem, while waving her brother’s homemade Israeli flag.
“What’s good are the people of Israel. They do so much good work, do so much volunteering, so much to help others,” Elgavi, a 34-year-old veteran immigrant from Holland, said. “You hike around [the West Bank] and see how committed the residents there are to the land and that they won’t give up so easily. It’s very inspiring.
“What’s bad are the politicians,” she continued. “Our ministers are being convicted of corruption and fraud, and Olmert is under yet another investigation. There’s a real disconnect between the people and the government. Will we have another war? It will depend on who is leading the country.”
Hadas Rahamin, a 28-year-old native Israeli, also said Israel at 60 is a mixed bag.
“I’m concerned but also optimistic,” she said as her toddler climbed up a slide. “There are so many great things happening here, including the high-tech sector and the economy, but I’m also aware of the problems.
As a school psychologist in Jerusalem, Rahamin said she knows that the Arab sector in the city “receives inferior services. I’m afraid that a new generation of children is growing up with resentment. The key to change is education and we’re not doing all we can to help them.”
Rachel Koster, who was born in Morocco the same year Israel was established and immigrated with her family soon afterward, is nostalgic for the old days, even though they were difficult.
“We lived in tents in the ma’abara [tent city] in Talpiot,” Koster, one of 16 children (her father’s first wife died and he remarried) said, referring to a Jewish neighborhood in southern Jerusalem that absorbed thousands of immigrants. “My mother ran a grocery store in the ma’abara and people paid with coupons issued by the government. Times were tough but you could play outside till dark without being afraid.
“Today I’m anxious every time I go to the park because my neighborhood, East Talpiot, is next to Arab villages.”
Koster lived in New York for 30 years before returning to Israel a few years ago, leaving behind a daughter in Manhattan. “It was a tremendous sacrifice leaving her, but Israel is home,” Koster said.

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