OPINION: Lessons in resilience from a nation in turmoil

I recently returned from a tour of Israel funded by ELNET (European Leadership Network), accompanying numerous political figures from within the UK’s devolved parliaments, as well as local councillors and political figures from Germany. 

The visit, which was superbly organised, took delegates to the sites in southern Israel that were gravely affected by the appalling Hamas atrocities of 7 October. We visited Sderot, which is less than a mile from the Gaza border and heard a briefing from former IDF spokesman Lt. Colonel Peter Lerner, a man once dubbed ‘Israel’s other Iron Dome’.

He spoke about the monumental failures on ‘Black Shabbat’, both in terms of how the IDF missed an operational understanding of Hamas’ short-term planning and failed to gauge its strategic aims.

Visiting Sderot, a city with 75,000 inhabitants, felt rather surreal with so much of the population yet to return following its evacuation six months ago. On 7 October, its police station came under assault from Hamas terrorists and almost all those inside were killed. It was destroyed and is now just an empty space.

There was a deeply moving visit to Re’im, the site of the Supernova festival massacre where 364 young people were murdered, tortured and abused in acts of unspeakable horror. Upon arrival, dozens of Jewish visitors were giving a moving rendition of Am Yisrael Chai, a powerful symbol of resilience and determination in the face of harrowing tragedy.

At Kibbutz Be’eri, a place that actively helped Palestinians in Gaza for many years, there was a stark reminder of the devastation caused. One of the houses we visited belonged to Vivian Silver, the famous Canadian born peace activist who moved to this location some decades ago and actively campaigned for the Palestinians and the Bedouin.

The burnt wreck of her property was a heartbreaking reminder of loss and suffering. Standing in the ruins of the kibbutz, Jim Shannon, the DUP MP for Strangford, said that ‘the full force of the evil of humanity was present as I stood in that place’.Yet the last words of our tour guide were also highly resonant, encouraging us to return in one year when the kibbutz would be rebuilt. At the Erez crossing, one could still see signs of the battles that took place on 7 October, including the hole that was blown through the border fence.

In Tel Aviv, we met with relatives of hostages in Gaza who lamented the failure to bring their loved ones home, with the mother of one hostage from Be’eri telling delegates that, ‘No price is too high’. They now receive help and support from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which was formed a day after the attacks.

There were also important briefings from MKs in the Knesset, diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and academics. In Jerusalem, a place much quieter than in previous years in a sign of Israel’s decimated tourism industry, there was a powerful visit to Yad Vashem with a wreath laid by Jim Shannon, followed by a tour of the Old City.

I was left with three distinct impressions about the current mood of the country. This is a nation in shock and trauma after six months, a people struggling to come to terms with an unprecedented catastrophe. The feeling that the state failed, that people were abandoned by the army and the security services, remains palpable.

Posters of the hostages are literally everywhere, a permanent reminder that the wider Israeli family anxiously awaits the return of its missing sons and daughters. Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said that the Israeli people had ‘suffered the most horrendous trauma, close to that of the Holocaust’, adding that he was particularly ‘alarmed at the level of sexual violence against women and girls’.

The second is that Israelis are incredibly resilient. Despite the horrors and the anguish, they are determined that life will go on, that their enemies will be routed and that what was lost six months ago will be rebuilt. Darren Millar, a Welsh Conservative member of the Senedd, said that all those he had met were ‘determined to work together to ensure that the capacity for further attacks by Hamas (was) dismantled’, and was also struck by ‘the compassion of ordinary Israelis for the civilian population in Gaza’.

Listening to the words of injured soldiers who were receiving treatment at the world-famous Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv was a powerful and inspiring reminder of the raw courage within the IDF.

Third, there is a radical disconnect between even the most progressive Israeli voices and their counterparts in the West. Israelis who are deeply critical of Netanyahu, argue for co-existence and demand a better future for the region, are still deeply supportive of this war, seeing it as necessary, lawful and just. They disparage the idea that Israelis can ever feel safe if Hamas remains in power and utterly reject calls for a ceasefire that does not mention the hostages.

They know what justice demands: the total defeat of a monstrous, genocidal enemy that lusts for the blood of Israelis and victimises Palestinians. Yet in an ever-hopeful nation, there is always the belief that a better future lies ahead. ELNET should be congratulated for organising such an important and impactful event, one that will live in the minds of its participants for many years.

• Dr Jeremy Havardi is director of the BBUK Bureau of International Affairs