Liberal universalists similarly tell an upside-down story about Israel, trashing it as a rogue state breaking international law and willfully killing the innocent in a spirit of revenge. In fact, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, deeply committed to protecting life and liberty and upholding international law, and motivated in war only to defend the innocent against evil and the nation against annihilation. Melanie Phillips

The essential fuel for all this cultural energy is that Israel has a sense of purpose. Its people understand why the state exists and why it needs to exist—that it is the indispensable homeland of the Jewish people. It survives and thrives for one overwhelming reason: because it wants to. Melanie Phillips