The 'Lions' of Israel
by Nils A. Haug • December 7, 2025 at 5:00 am
It may not be generally known that, immediately after WWII, as many as 48,000 volunteers, both Jews and non-Jews, from 59 nations arrived in Israel to fight for its independence. About 90% of Israel's fledging Air Force pilots were new arrivals – the often-overlooked heroes of their time.
In many Western countries, the present cohort of military-age young people generally seems to display an ignorance of integrity, the indispensable value of freedom of speech, Judeo-Christian values, and patriotism.
Instead, despite having the comfort of food, shelter, advanced technology, and no military obligations, they appear to be self-absorbed and resentful of how extremely hard they supposedly have it. Destructive rather than creative, many appear, at best, disinclined to contribute meaningfully to the common good of the societies that provide them with so much. Is it possible that we are infantilizing them -- depriving them of the most important education of all - by no longer requiring a military draft, a Peace Corps, or at least mandatory civilian national service to enable them to participate in "repairing" the world and seeing how most people actually live?
"These young men and women, raised in the age of social media and short attention spans, are showing the world what true clarity and courage look like. They're not confused by decades of failed appeasement or the lies of global media narratives. They know why we are fighting. They have seen with their own eyes the evil we are fighting against.... They are... standing with a strength and moral clarity that cuts through the noise...." — Avi Abelow, JNS, October 19, 2025.
Journalist Jonathan Tobin notes that these men and women (many of them reservists who in everyday life work at everyday jobs) went on to defeat their "Iranian, Hezbollah and Hamas foes, and did so while still preserving [Israel's] standards and humanity." They are a credit to their people and to the Judeo-Christian ethos underpinning Western civilization itself.
When the Greatest Generation is mentioned, reference is invariably to those who went through the Great Depression and participated in the Second World War and who emerged victorious, at great personal cost, against various enemies bent on bringing America down.
It may not be generally known that, immediately after WWII, as many as 48,000 volunteers, both Jews and non-Jews, from 59 nations arrived in Israel to fight for its independence. About 90% of Israel's fledging Air Force pilots were new arrivals – the often-overlooked heroes of their time.
The influence and virtues of those generations are "fading into permanent silence," suggests political commentator Sean Patrick Calabria.
