It seems that once again, Israel is fighting for its very survival. You’d think that after 58 years of Statehood and virtually uninterrupted troubles we’d be somewhat used to the never-ending cycle of crises and that the current problems wouldn’t surprise us.

But they do.

Why is that?

Is it because we Jews are the eternal optimists? Is it because triumph over adversity is in our genes? Possibly. For the last couple of weeks I, like millions of Jews all over the world (not least of all in Israel) have been glued to their television screens and voraciously consuming stories in the paper and online.

My nightly ritual has been to read no less than four online newspapers AND watch the English and Hebrew television news streamed from Israel. There is no point trying to get a hold on what is happening in Israel by relying on the local (Australian) media. It is at best uninformed and out of date and at worst, grossly biased against Israel and downright anti-Zionist. I watch five minutes on a local TV station and I get so angry I can literally feel the blood in my veins bubbling away to record temperatures. It’s just not worth the pain I have decided. From now on I will stick to reliable sources coming out of Israel directly.

I chat to my friends in Israel on a daily basis. My close friends are mostly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – and so far they have been relatively safe, thank G-d.
I have a cousin who lives in Nahariya with her little boy, but I know she has temporarily moved to stay with her sister in Tel Aviv. I have two other friends living in Safed – but I have not heard from them, but please G-d, I am sure they are okay.

You know the situation is bad in Israel when the Israelis say it is bad. That’s the true barometer. But despite all the craziness that is going on, despite the daily barrage of rockets being fired into Israel from Lebanon and Gaza and falling on innocent civilians, not one person is even thinking of leaving. This includes the thousands of young Jews from around the world currently in Israel on programs.

The company I work with in Israel, Chavaya Israeli, currently has over 3,000 young people in Israel on programs – and everyone is staying put. Sure the itineraries have changed. There are no day trips to Rosh Hanikra, no Golan tiyulim, no relaxing by the Kinneret in Tiberius, but that’s not getting in the way of all these people having the time of their lives in their Homeland. For all the mass panic there has been in Beirut with Lebanese Australians desperate for the Aussie government to “get them the hell out” there are no such calls from the parents of our kids in Israel.

Welcome to our world. Welcome to the reality of life in Israel since 1948 guys.
I am not saying for a second that Beirut would be my location of choice right at this point in time. I am not for a second belittling the very real fear of young people caught up in a conflict they have nothing to do with. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am happy for the relieved families whose children they have now been re-united with.

Have we seen one story of families and children in Israel whose lives have been torn apart by this crisis? Do we see pictures of the grieving families, the terrified civilians running to their shelters with a mere 60 seconds warning? These are rhetorical questions by the way, in case you hadn’t guessed.

Before all this balagan erupted, we were experiencing huge interest and excitement in our Israel programs which depart in December-January. The fact is; there is NO talk of cancelling our programs. Of course we are monitoring the situation extremely carefully and we don’t take a step without the full backing and support of a number of key stakeholders – the Zionist Federation of Australia and Taglit-birthright israel to name just two.

The safety and security of our participants has always been our number one priority and we do everything we possibly can to ensure that every single participant is safe from the minute they arrive in Israel to the moment they land back home again.

It’s interesting to note that in all the years that Machon (the year long program run by the youth movements) has been running, it has never ever been cancelled due to the problems in Israel. That speaks volumes about the Australian Jewish community’s commitment to Israel.

When our AUJS Academy groups leave Australia on December 5th, I will be on the plane with them. And remember – mine is a one way ticket.

Am Yisrael Chai!