Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; If you desire peace prepare for war.

These words of the Roman writer Vegetius remain as true today as when written in the 4th century and in the turmoil of today's Middle East, perhaps more relevant than ever. All over this troubled region the cataclysmic forces of revolution against autocratic governments have been unleashed and, as Muslim slaughters Muslim, Israel despite its faults, remains the one constant and stable democracy. Perhaps that's why it's despised as much by Western 'liberals' as much as fervent Islamists, an island of democracy simply shouldn't exist in this sea of anarchy, it's an anomaly.

The reality of living here is the knowledge that war can come at any time and in this very small country civilians no less than the military are in the front line. Incoming missiles take but a few minutes to reach our cities and therefore every dwelling built since the first Gulf War, when Saddam's crude but effective Scuds targeted Tel Aviv, has a fortified 'safe room'. Earlier dwellings and all public buildings have a basement 'miklat' (shelter). Israeli citizens have been issued with gas masks and on 22nd June a national emergency drill was carried out. Twice in the day as sirens wailed,  residents had to go to a shelter,  the emergency services simulated rescues and the cabinet met in an underground bunker.

We attended a lecture by the Home Front Command here in peaceful Karmiel on what to do if, perhaps more accurately when, war comes again. The existential threat to Israel is very real, not simply theoretical, as Iran has sworn to destroy us even as it strives to obtain thermonuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. The fact that 20% of Israel's citizens are Muslim or Christian Arabs and would also be incinerated by bombs which do not discriminate, would not deter the fanatics who control the Iranian theocracy. There are also those around the world who would applaud this 'solving' of the Israel/Palestine conflict by removing that which they abominate the most, the State of Israel.

On the subject of war, I watched a fascininating programme on the History Channel about Sun Tzu, whose seminal tome on military strategy, 'The Art of War' is still studied in military colleges today.  It is also required reading for all CIA and US  Military Intelligence officers 2,400 years after it was written because its principles are timeless. Napoleon, Admiral Heihachiro who masterminded Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap who led North Vietnamese forces to victory against France and the US and Generals Schwartzkopf and Powell in the first Gulf War are among those who studied it. 



Karmiel Centre

There are many quotable quotes from 'The Art of War' but the one I like the most as applied to our current situation is 'For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.' To survive and indeed thrive in the very tough neighbourhood in which Israel dwells, will indeed require the acme of skill from its elected leaders.

Innocents Abroad

Sea of Galilee from Meron Mountains

Fifteen months ago my wife and I left behind a comfortable life in the north of England and moved lock, stock and barrel to Karmiel in Galilee, northern Israel. Why did we do it? I had just retired from being a publisher's agent, basically on the road selling books day in and day out for almost 20 years.

Inside however, was a nagging voice which wouldn't be silenced, telling me that my destiny lay not in viewing the Pennines but the mountains of the Upper and Lower Galilee that so inspired the Psalmist of old to utter the prayer 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.' Who knows but he may have been an ancestor of mine and his spirit was urging me to return to this land after two thousand years of exile and wandering.

My wife, less than keen, but resigned to my 'meshugas' (irrational obsession) dutifully accompanied me, always believing that it wouldn't really happen and I'd see sense eventually.

We left Manchester in a minibus early one morning and arrived at Heathrow to be initially processed at the El Al special check-in desk for olim (immigrants to Israel). The preliminaries over, we were flown to Ben-Gurion Airport and the many new immigrants taken to the old terminal for further processing. Eventually we were bussed to the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem where we flopped into bed at 3am.

After only four hours sleep we breakfasted,  heard a lecture, signed up with a bank, health fund and mobile phone and  issued with our ID cards. Finally we were bussed to our destinations to begin our new lives in our adopted country where the inhabitants may be our co-religionists but culturally often miles apart and speak in a language we did not understand.

Israel, no less than the USA, is a melting pot of many cultures and peoples but all believing that this little patch of land is now home. This includes the 1.5m Palestinian Arab people who share full Israeli citizenship and make their contribution to this country which has moved from the Third World to the First in only 60 years.

Further posts will follow which may be of interest to those considering following in our footsteps, those who disagree with our actions and the merely curious.