Leaders| A perilous path
Israel’s expansionism is a danger to others—and itself
It risks turning hubris into disaster
Israeli flags planted across a wide landscape with a town in the distance
image: Lina Jaradat
IT IS HARDto believe today, but 18 months ago Israel was in grave peril. Surrounded by enemies, bickering with its main ally in Washington and reeling after Hamas’s attack caused the most murderous day in the country’s history, the Jewish state seemed vulnerable and confused. Now, by contrast, Israel is rampant. It is still fighting—occasionally in Lebanon and Syria, more permanently against Palestinian militants in the West Bank and once more, on an even larger scale, in Gaza, where an American-sponsored ceasefire has broken down. But this time Israel is fighting on its own terms and with full American backing. You might think that makes it safe again. Yet its renewed military supremacy comes with a danger of overextension and bitter strife at home. As its government charges ahead, it risks turning hubris into disaster.