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Islamists. Revolutionary Islamist forces including Hizballah and Hamas and the govern-
ments of Iran and Syria are committed to Israel's destruction and reject peace in any form.
Israelis largely interpreted the political upheavals of the Arab world in 2011, often hailed in
the West as democratic movements, as marking an advance of revolutionary Islamism. If ex-
tremism in the Middle East was on the increase, Israelis concluded, to make concessions would
be doubly dangerous, since it would give more strategic assets to Israel's most determined foes.
Outside of the Middle East, Israel faced much antagonism in Western media and intellec-
tual circles. Yet the picture was not only a negative one. The country maintained basically good
state-to-state relations with almost every Western democracy. And Israel's relations with such
powers as Russia and the other states that emerged from the Soviet Empire, China, India, and
many Third World countries were far better than they had been in past decades.
The internal security situation was also better than it had been in the past. Israeli strat-
egy against the intifada (Palestinian uprising against Israel) in 2000 -2005 and against cross-
border operations from Hamas and Hizballah has pushed successful terrorist attacks to a low
level compared to previous years. While Israel does face a high level of threat, Israelis have ad-
justed to this situation as a part of their normal routine. This was evident in 2000 -2005, when
intense terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians failed to produce any considerable breakdown in
societal morale.
The potential for massive rocket attacks from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip remains, and the
potential possession of nuclear weapons by Iran poses a new threat, yet Israelis currently enjoy
a relatively high level of security given their experiences and expectations. Despite the ongoing
Arab-Israeli confl ict, Israel has largely succeeded in giving its citizens personal and collective
security. If crime statistics in Western countries are factored into the threat assessment, Israelis
face fewer dangers overall than do inhabitants of most American and many European cities.
CHALLENGES TO NATION-BUILDING
The challenges that Israel faced after independence included not only ensuring its strategic
survival but also establishing itself as a democratic country with an industrial economy; fos-
tering high morale among its citizenry; and maintaining internal peace while wealthier, more
populous neighbors voiced their intentions to wipe it off the map. Even aside from problems
added by threats to its existence, the hostility of neighboring countries, and the costs of self-
preservation, the barriers to development were enormous.
First of all, Israel lacked natural resources useful in manufacturing, with the exception of
high-quality phosphates on its eastern border. It had virtually no oil and only a tiny amount of
natural gas. It faced periodic water shortages. In addition, the new state lacked infrastructure.
There was no good road network; only a minimal railroad system; no transport connections to
neighboring states, since their borders were closed to the Jewish state; and not even a national
water distribution system.
Second, few of the Jews who came to Israel had the knowledge or experience to build either
a state or a modern economy. Most were poor or at least had become so by the loss of their
former property. The younger Holocaust survivors had no chance for an education at all. Jews
from Middle Eastern countries were in a similar situation, coming as they did from nonindus-
trialized countries.
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