Be like the Israelis

If there are people Filipinos should emulate, it’s definitely the Israelis.

Israel’s history is written in blood. Since gaining independence in 1947, the Israelis have been fighting hard for their religion, culture, ideology, and territory.

Last year, they figured in yet another military conflict when Palestine-backed Hamas terrorists launched a daring cross-border attack to murder, abduct, torture and rape the members of a tiny kibbutz community in southern Israel.

As if that wasn’t enough, the militant group sowed fear and terror when it attacked the revelers at the Nova Music Festival who were celebrating the end of the seven-day Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

The series of attacks was so bloody that it left around 1,200 dead while a handful were abducted and brought to the Hamas headquarters in the Gaza Strip. No one knows what has happened to many of them.

The Israelis retaliated and launched “Operation Iron Sword” in the Gaza Strip, killing 3,500 Palestinians, most of them members of the Hamas terror group, some of which were disguised as teachers, social workers and members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

But the war in the Gaza Strip is just half of the story.

Up north, the Israelis are also fighting the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah. The war is said to be Hezbollah’s way of supporting Hamas, but Israeli security experts believe it could be part of a grand plan to prompt the Iranians to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel.

No wonder young Israelis are often seen roaming around public places carrying high-powered weapons. As an Israeli diplomat said, being at the receiving end of a nuclear strike is no longer a question of “why” but a question of “when.”

Still, the Israeli spirit remains unbreakable.

The streets of the old Jaffa district in Tel Aviv are a party place at night with a lot of singing, dancing and drinking. Israeli teens walk around as if there’s no war going on within their borders, while parents and their young kids sway to the beat of nursery music.

In the morning, the Tel Aviv metropolis is bustling. Traffic is everywhere as people move around, from employees to ranking executives of various private companies.

And mind you, they don’t wear the usual office attire of suit, long-sleeve shirt, tie and leather shoes. They come to work in jeans, shorts, round-neck T-shirts and — believe it or not — flip-flops.

And it’s not just the Israelis’ sense of normalcy that is truly admirable.

Known to be one of the smartest people in the world, Israeli technology, especially in sports, is top of the line. In fact, they have everything that sportsmen need, like a camera that measures an intangible performance, shoes that report the level of fatigue of an athlete, and an app that can edit videos in real time.

No wonder the Israelis are determined to make a strong impact in the coming Paris Olympics.

A top Israeli sports official said they will be sending 88 athletes who are expected to win a record four to five gold medals in sports like gymnastics, judo, sailing and marathon in the Olympics that starts on 26 July.

For a country that has a population of only 9.5 million and is being battered by war on all fronts, the target is truly impressive. It shows that they are determined and motivated to succeed in the biggest and most prestigious sports event in the world.

The Filipinos should tear a page from the Israeli playbook. They should emulate their fighting attitude, strength, courage and ability to rise from the ashes of war.

Yes, military conflict is ravaging both the south and north of Israel with Iran threatening their very existence with an all-out nuclear war.

But the Israelis remain undaunted. They are living their lives to the fullest, singing, dancing and drinking in the streets until the break of a new dawn.