On overseas flights – Aluf Benn in Haaretz:

‘In 1970, Soviet dissident Andrei Amalrik was a young historian at Moscow State University when he published his provocative book, "Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?"
His prophecy seemed utopian and exaggerated, but Amalrik accurately foresaw the process that would lead to the fall of the Red Empire, and his timing, which he chose as a tribute to George Orwell, was only seven years off. He did not live to see the realization of his vision: after being imprisoned in the Gulag and exiled from his country, he was killed in a car accident in Spain.’

(…)

‘After 20 months of war, Israel shows resilience and prosperity. The shekel is stable, unemployment is low, and the beaches and restaurants in Tel Aviv are full. The killing and starvation in Gaza occur in the "foreign media" and don't sully the Israeli mainstream, which mostly complains about the high cost of overseas flights.’

(…)

‘The first clause in that vision must be ending the war, before Gaza swallows Israel into itself, never to return. Just as Amalrik warned the rulers of the Soviet empire, who did not want to listen.’

Read the article here.

Rulers don’t listen. That’s the old news.

The big difference with the Soviet-Union is that the sense of Messianism, that was part of real existing socialism, secular Messianism is also Messianism, but still was in 1970 non-existing anymore.

Messianism in Israel is very much alive. Self-destruction is possible, but a slightly fascist theocracy is another possibility. And the theocrats can survive for quite a long time.