Not because its people were weak, but because their leaders were fools. You’d think that after two thousand years of persecution, pogroms, and a Holocaust, the Jewish people would know better than to trust any politician with their safety. Yet here we are, history repeating itself under the management of bureaucrats who mistake red tape for security. The founders of Israel built a fortress nation from the ashes of genocide. They turned deserts into cities and refugees into soldiers. And then, somewhere along the way, the suits and the speechwriters took over. The same people who could out-think anyone in business, medicine, and science somehow let their own survival instincts get outsourced to government clerks with rubber stamps. Politicians told the people to relax. “We’ll keep you safe,” they said. “No need for weapons. Trust the police. Trust the army. Trust the State.” So ordinary citizens were turned into spectators in their own defense. They could fill out applications, ...