The Greatest Generation

By J. Philip Rosen

As a committed Zionist, I worried for years that Israel’s younger generation was losing its way. The weekly protests over judicial reform, the fervent anti-Netanyahu rhetoric, and most alarming of all, the reserve soldiers threatening to not report for duty cast a long and worrisome shadow.

Israel lives in a region where, without exception, its neighbors have sought to destroy it. They cannot afford one single idle soldier.

So, when October 7 occurred, I sat in my home in Jerusalem terrified, not only by the barbaric massacre that was unfolding, which was the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, but by a deeper question: What would the TikTok generation do now? These are the same young people who had filled Tel Aviv’s streets every Saturday night. Would they refuse the call? Would they fight half-heartedly? Would the Zionist dream dissolve on the day it was most needed?

The answer came instantly and decisively: absolutely not.

In fact—hell no.

From the first moments of the war, through victories against seven adversaries long believed to outmatch Israel, this generation proved itself not only capable but extraordinarily so. On that horrific morning, thousands of young Israelis retrieved uniforms from closets, strapped on their gear, and drove south—without orders, without commanders, and without hesitation. Many were wounded. Many died. All understood exactly what was at stake.

What followed was nothing short of a miracle. Soldiers fought for months with relentless determination. Pilots remained in their cockpits for days. Cyber units executed operations as sophisticated as any undertaken by any global power. Having spent years conducting business in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, I can attest that the reaction in the Arabian capitals to the IDF’s performance was a mix of awe and disbelief. The beepers exploding in the hands of Hezbollah operatives drew a stunned “holy cow!” The return of Israeli warplanes from the 12-day campaign against Iran prompted an even sharper outburst.

But military prowess alone is not what distinguishes this generation. It is their spirit, their grit, their deliberate, stubborn moral clarity.

Consider the soldiers who wrote letters home pleading with their parents not to trade murderous terrorists for their bodies should they fall. Or my friend Nimrod Palmach, who on October 7 drove south to save his ex-wife’s parents and ended up defending an entire moshav, killing more than 50 terrorists himself. These stories, now being documented, will shape Israel’s identity for decades.

And the heroes were not only on the battlefield. Hostages who endured unspeakable captivity and survived. Families who waged a tireless international campaign to ensure their loved ones were never forgotten—visiting Washington, meeting repeatedly with senior U.S. officials, pressing leaders in Jerusalem and around the world with unbreakable resolve.

Which brings us to the moment now confronting Israel.

What will the nation do with this greatest generation—not in a decade, not after another election cycle, but now?

Israel’s economy is soaring again, recording a 12% GDP surge last quarter, according to Israel’s ambassador in Washington. Its universities, its tech sector, and its public institutions are hungry for leadership forged not in ideology but in experience, discipline, and sacrifice. This generation has earned that opportunity. More than that: Israel needs them to lead.

As I tell my friends in Israeli politics:

Do not wait.

These young men and women have already demonstrated courage, unity, and competence unmatched in modern Israeli history. The task now is to bring them into the boardrooms, laboratories, start-ups, and—most critically—the halls of government.

If October 7 revealed anything, it is that the future of Israel does not belong to the loudest voices in the square. It belongs to the young Israelis who, when everything was on the line, stood up, suited up, and saved the nation.

They are the greatest generation. And their time is now. n

J. Philip Rosen is Chairman of the board of World Jewish Congress-American Section and a Member of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University.