10/02/2026
Israelis don’t run away from a crisis. They run towards the challenge.
Yesterday, on a flight to Israel, a life-threatening emergency unfolded. The plane was diving, children were screaming, and nobody knew what was happening. Yet as fear spread through the cabin, Israelis got out of their seats and moved towards the emergency, looking for ways to help.
That instinct is deeply Israeli. Even when their own safety is uncertain, many don’t wait for someone else to take charge. They ask: What can I do? Where am I needed?
We saw it after October 7. While terrorists were still infiltrating communities in southern Israel and the scale of the attack was only beginning to emerge, more than 300,000 reservists answered the call. Israelis abroad scrambled for flights home, leaving places of safety to return to a country at war.
Civilians mobilized too. People opened homes to displaced families, established command centers, collected and transported supplies, rescued animals and helped farmers. When a need appeared, someone stepped forward.
This sense of responsibility doesn’t happen accidentally. It is cultivated from childhood.
In Israeli youth movements, teenagers are entrusted with younger children. They plan activities, lead groups, resolve conflicts and keep those in their care safe. They learn early that responsibility means other people are depending on you.
Then there is Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service and equivalent of the Red Cross. Some 39,200 volunteers, employees and national-service volunteers serve with MDA, including approximately 16,500 youth volunteers. Teenagers train in first aid and emergency response and serve alongside ambulance crews.
They work across Israel’s religious, ethnic and cultural divides. When someone in front of you is injured or fighting for their life, you learn to act. At an age when teenagers are often still treated as children, they are being taught: You have a role. What you do matters.
The army builds on that foundation. It teaches soldiers to function as part of a disciplined collective while understanding their individual responsibility within it. Your judgment matters. Your decisions affect others. You cannot always wait for someone older or more senior to take responsibility.
By adulthood, the message has been reinforced again and again: I am part of a collective, but my individual actions matter to that collective.
Perhaps that explains what happened on the flight. Faced with danger, people didn’t simply wait for someone else to act. They drew on a habit formed over years: see the need, accept responsibility and move towards it.
You are responsible for the people around you. You can make a difference. So you move towards the challenge.
