Consider the country’s morale

Israel, once again, finds itself in a warlike situation, and Israeli civilians are once again on the front lines.

Long ago, the quaint concept that wars here would be fought at the frontiers has been replaced with bombs and rockets indiscriminately targeting civilians – in the recent round everywhere from Sderot to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem to Holon.

Civilians, however, are not soldiers. They neither are trained to fight nor have the means to do so. Israelis have proven themselves in previous battles, intifadas and rounds of violence with Hamas to be both long-suffering and incredibly resilient. But this should not be taken for granted, or as a given.

The nation’s morale needs to be tended to and built up. The nation’s morale – the people’s staying power – is also an essential component of any country’s victory in battle.

That all came to mind watching the television news on Tuesday evening, following the barrage of attacks on Ashkelon that killed two people, the rockets over Gush Dan, the attack that hit a bus and sent it into flames in Holon.

Network after network went back to the same pictures – of people running for cover, of empty Tel Aviv streets, of the burning hulk of the bus in Holon. Those were dramatic images, but they were also difficult images to watch. And they never stopped.

Much of this war is psychological. Hamas knows it cannot militarily defeat Israel, and that is not the reason it launched its most recent adventure. What it wants are pictures of Israelis running