Israel’s enemies always underestimate its sheer bloody-mindedness

From sunset on Wednesday until sunset today, Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. It comes after a hellish 12 months for Israel and the Jewish diaspora at large. It started with Hamas’s brutal terror attack of 7 October and ended with an Iranian missile barrage on Tuesday night. There is undoubtedly more to come as Israel tries to push back Hezbollah, bring about an end to the near daily rocket attacks and allow displaced citizens from the north to return home.

I was in Israel just a few weeks ago. In the run up to arriving at Ben Gurion airport, I was worried about what I would find. What toll would the war have taken? While many of the conversations I had whilst in Israel ultimately came back to the war, and reminders about the hostages were everywhere, I was struck by the resilience of the people.