The Thousand Days and Counting

The sheer duration of this war—now passing 1,000 days—has taught us much about ourselves as a society, as an army, and as a people.

By Michael Oren

The 1967 war, of course, took six days, and the 1956 Sinai Campaign, eight. The Yom Kippur War lasted three weeks, and in 1982, Operation Peace for Galilee—the First Lebanon War—raged for three months. The Second Lebanon War ground on for fifty-four days. Before October 7, 2023, though, our lengthiest war was our struggle for independence, stretching from November 1947 to March 1949, roughly a year and a half. But all of those milestones have now been surpassed by this war, initially called Swords of Iron, but over time acquiring different operational titles—Rising Lion, Roaring Lion, etc.—which has continued for 1,000 days. It is Israel’s longest war, and it appears to be far from over.

The sheer duration of this war has taught us much about ourselves as a society, as an army, and as a people. We have experienced the truly unparalleled commitment of Israelis and the Jewish people to help one another in times of loss and distress as well as our determination never to let the enemy extinguish our joy. We have seen the unbreakable devotion of the Israeli people to the release of the hostages, and the superhuman endurance and faith of the captives themselves.

We have witnessed the inexhaustible bravery of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, especially the reservists who have left their homes, jobs, and families again and again, often for hundreds of days, to defend our country. Many have come back permanently impaired or have not returned at all. Their loved ones endured prolonged hardships. We have seen up close and daily the vast ability of our people to believe, to persevere, and to love.

At the same time, this war has left deep scars—physical, psychological, and moral—on all Israelis. The Jewish people are assailed by hatred throughout much of the Western world. And, internally, Israel remains divided between right and left, religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi. United, we know from our history, we can surmount any obstacle, but that unity has recently proven elusive.

Wars do not end the way they used to. In this war there will be no “the Temple Mount is in our hands,” no raising of the Israeli flag over the Suez Canal or Mount Hermon. Nobody knows how or when this war will end. All we can be sure of is the indomitable spirit of our people and the fortitude of our beliefs. In that sense, we have won this war already.