In the summer of 2006, Israel absorbed more than 4,000 rockets fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. For thirty-four days, the north of the country lived under constant sirens. Families slept in shelters. Cities such as Haifa, Nahariya, and Kiryat Shmona were repeatedly struck. When the fighting ended, 165 Israelis had been killed, including 121 soldiers and 44 civilians. Thousands more were wounded. Among those killed were people I knew personally.

Israel was shaken, but the war ended with a familiar understanding. The fighting had stopped for the moment. It would not be the last time rockets were fired at us.

That reality shapes Israeli thinking. The country has never had the luxury of assuming that hostility will disappear on its own. Several actors across the region have declared openly that Israel should not exist. Israelis take those statements seriously because history has shown that threats against Jews often become actions.

Preparation becomes culture when a society lives under those conditions.

After the 2006 war, Israel conducted painful internal reviews. Military inquiries examined intelligence failures, command problems, and weaknesses in civilian defense. The country rebuilt systems that had proven insufficient. Missile defense programs accelerated. Early warning systems expanded. Civil defense coordination improved. One of the most important outcomes was the rapid development and deployment of the Iron Dome system, which now intercepts rockets aimed at civilian areas.

Israel learned the hard way that resilience must be built before the next attack arrives.

Many countries are now discovering how difficult that lesson can be when preparation was never necessary before.

Iran and the network of armed groups it supports across the Middle East have spent years developing missiles, drones, and rocket arsenals capable of reaching civilian populations. When those capabilities are used, societies that have never lived under sustained attack often struggle to respond. Their civilians have never practiced how to move quickly to safety. Their institutions were built for stability rather than constant threat. Their militaries are often structured for conventional warfare rather than the persistent harassment of rockets and drones aimed at cities.

The psychological shock becomes part of the challenge.

Israelis know that shock well. For decades, civilians have had to respond within seconds to sirens warning of incoming rockets. Families know where the nearest shelter is located. Schools practice evacuation drills. Emergency services coordinate under pressure because they have had to do so repeatedly.

Experience creates habits. Those habits create resilience.

The lesson extends beyond the battlefield. One of the first principles people learn in real self-defense is how to recognize early signs of aggression. Violence rarely begins with the final blow. It begins with signals. Distance closes. Tone changes. Boundaries are tested. People who recognize those signals gain time to respond before the situation becomes uncontrollable.

Countries face similar dynamics. Warning signs appear long before a full conflict erupts. Intelligence reports accumulate. Military capabilities expand. Threats are declared publicly. When those signals are ignored, the eventual confrontation becomes harder to manage.

Another lesson appears in the moment when action becomes necessary. In personal self-defense, there is often hesitation because people worry about appearing aggressive. Yet hesitation can become dangerous when a credible threat already exists, and harm is imminent. The dilemma surrounding acting first in a dangerous situation reflects a moral and strategic challenge that individuals and nations both face.

Leaders often wait for perfect clarity. Adversaries rarely provide it.

Israel’s history has shaped a different instinct. The country understands that threats sometimes develop slowly but predictably. Waiting too long narrows the available options. Preparedness allows a society to respond earlier and more effectively.

This mindset is deeply connected to Jewish history itself.

The Jewish people have endured repeated attempts at destruction across centuries. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70 CE and began a long diaspora. Jewish communities in Europe were massacred during the First Crusade in 1096. Spain expelled its Jewish population in 1492. Pogroms in the Russian Empire during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries killed thousands and displaced many more. The twentieth century produced the Holocaust, where Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered six million Jews in a systematic attempt to erase an entire people.

Survival across those centuries required adaptation. Jewish communities preserved learning, law, and scholarship even when they lost homes and security. The tradition that Jews are the “People of the Book” reflects a deep commitment to education and intellectual discipline. Knowledge became a form of protection when political protection was unreliable.

That tradition continues to shape Israel today. The country invests heavily in science, engineering, and research. Innovation often grows directly from necessity. Missile defense systems, cybersecurity breakthroughs, and advanced medical technologies all emerged from a society forced to solve urgent problems.

Preparedness also shapes how individuals think about safety. Many people believe safety depends primarily on tools or technology. In reality, awareness and training play a larger role. Real protection begins with self-defense awareness and responsibility.

Nations face a similar truth. Defense systems matter. Military strength matters. Yet resilience begins with mindset. Societies must recognize danger, prepare seriously, and invest in the systems that allow them to respond when threats appear.

Israel did not choose the circumstances that forced it to learn these lessons. Rockets falling on cities are not an abstract policy discussion. They are moments that shape families, communities, and national memory.

Yet difficult experiences can produce clarity.

Countries now facing Iranian aggression are discovering how challenging it is to adapt quickly when that clarity arrives without preparation. Civilian populations must learn how to live under threat. Governments must build defensive systems while responding to ongoing attacks. Military forces must adjust doctrine for threats that do not resemble traditional warfare.

Israel faced that process years ago. The learning curve was painful, but it produced a society that studies threats seriously and adapts constantly.

Resilience is rarely built during peaceful decades. It is built during difficult times. The Jewish people have carried that lesson across centuries. Israel carries it today.

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© The Times of Israel (Blogs)