The unrest in France is a warning. For a nation needs more than a functioning economy, a strong military, and democratic institutions. It needs a shared identity. For Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, this question is of existential importance. Burning streets in France, violent demonstrations, Palestinian flags, and reports of a vandalized synagogue in Paris. But wait — did President Emmanuel Macron not claim that there were no Hamas terrorists in Judea and Samaria? Then there probably aren’t any in France either! What was playing out on the streets there looked, in any case, like far more than an ordinary student protest — more like an intifada. Even without reliable figures, I find myself wondering how many of the young people involved come from Arab and Muslim immigrant families. Probably the majority.
Israeli visitors describe having to flee from fire and tear gas. Yet behind the images of the unrest lies a far greater question: what happens to a country when its people no longer know what unites them? When a shared identity breaks apart, neither economic...
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