There is something deeply moving about celebrating life in Israel while the country is still carrying the weight of war.

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the wedding of the son of an old and close friend. Standing around the chuppah and later on the dance floor, I was struck by the young generation surrounding us — “kids,” many of whom chose to make Aliyah and serve as lone soldiers in the IDF, who over the last three years have moved in and out of active field and reserve combat service, somehow squeezing in pockets of dating, socializing, university courses and the fragile routines of “normal life.”

At the wedding, there was also a relatively large contingent of family and friends who had come from Australia to celebrate, some of whom had not been in Israel for quite some time. What struck them was not only the pain, trauma and raw civic emotions exacerbated by the upcoming elections. It was also the cranes in the air, the overflowing restaurants and the new roads and neighborhoods being built.

Even now, Israel is building.

That image stayed with me, because it points to one of the central questions now facing the country: how do we turn the instinct to build into a disciplined national........

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