Israel's 500th day of war: This single unbearable question

Israel's 500th day of war: This single unbearable question

Yael Eckstein

500 days.

500 days since Israel woke to sirens and slaughter.

500 days since terrorists stormed our homes, butchered families, burned children alive, and dragged the living into the dark.

500 days since the world watched and asked if Israel would survive.

I was born and raised in the United States. Never — not once — did I question my country’s survival. America was simply there, permanent, unshakable. There were threats, but never an existential one. Now I live in a country where survival is not a given.

Where, for 500 days, tiny Israel, the size of New Jersey, has been under attack from seven different fronts. And with every one of the thousands of rockets launched at our cities, suicide drones launched at our homes, and ballistic missiles launched at our children’s schools.

Where, for 500 days, we have lived with a single unbearable question: Will Israel endure? This is not a war over land; it is a war over existence. Our enemies have made it clear: they do not want peace; they want to erase us. They chant for our annihilation. They teach their children that Israel is temporary. They do not attack our borders; they attack our homes.

And so, for 500 days, we have buried our dead. We have searched the ruins. We have carried the weight of an unbearable absence — the hostages taken from us; their fate uncertain. We have endured rockets fired from every direction, the silence of those who should have stood with us, and the funerals of our soldiers, day after day after day.

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