Ukraine and Israel: Two Countries — One Test of Maturity

The soul is truly divided today.
Between February 2022 and October 2023.
Between two wars that began differently but quickly became part of one shared biography.

Being a patriot of two countries at once in 2026 is no longer about slogans and flags. It’s about inner honesty. About the ability to look in the mirror and admit: we faced the same existential threat, but responded to it differently. And it is in these differences that the most painful and valuable lessons lie.

It all started with unity.

February 2022 became a moment of almost impossible political miracle for Ukraine. Internal conflicts seemed to freeze. Yesterday’s opponents shook hands. The opposition integrated into the system. The world saw a country with a unified decision-making center and a common goal — to survive.

In Israel, October 7 happened at a different point of coordinates. It was the peak of the deepest social divide in the history of the state. The political war within the country did not stop for a minute — even when the first rockets flew south.
Benjamin Netanyahu never became a symbol of the nation for society, as Volodymyr Zelensky became for Ukrainians in the first hours of the invasion.

And yet the Israelis went to war.
Not for the leader — despite the chaos.
Thus proving that a nation can be more mature and stronger than its own leadership.

But it is here that the key difference in what is called the social contract manifests itself.

In Israel, this contract is literal. It is soaked in blood not metaphorically, but physically. When the country buries the son of former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who died in Gaza, society shudders — and unites. Because here the children of ministers, billionaires, generals, and sworn oppositionists serve in combat units on par with everyone else.

This is the feeling of a shared destiny.
It gives the moral right to demand sacrifices from everyone — without exceptions.

In Ukraine, despite the incredible bravery of millions, this logic never became total. While some have not left the trenches for years, others — those referred to as the “elite” — find ways to wait out the war abroad or through necessary connections. Scandals with loud names hit the national spirit no less than enemy rockets.

Without the feeling of absolute justice — where the son of a deputy and the son of an ordinary worker stand in the same line — faith in victory begins to slowly burn out from within.

The difference is also noticeable in how societies deal with the truth.

In 2022, Ukraine bet on the “drug of hope.” Promises of quick timelines helped avoid panic but became a long-term trap. When the war turned out to be long and exhausting, euphoria was replaced by public exhaustion.

Israel lives in a different paradigm — of harsh military realism. Here, quick victories are not promised. Army spokespeople speak dryly, sometimes frighteningly. Society is accustomed to the marathon because it understands: the truth, no matter how harsh, strengthens better than any myth.

The attitude towards mistakes is particularly telling.

In Ukraine, questions about the failures of the first days were postponed “until victory” for years. The authorities built an information dome under which investigations stalled and disappeared.

In Israel, it all started differently. The demand to find those responsible for the October 7 catastrophe arose on the very first day. Army and intelligence leaders openly said: “We failed.” Politicians tried to evade responsibility — and faced strong resistance from society.

Here, they do not wait for the end of the war to ask questions. Because accountability here and now is considered part of national security.

Looking at both my homelands today, it is clear: Ukraine in 2022 experienced the painful birth of a new nation — through unity and self-sacrifice.
Israel is undergoing the harshest test of the strength of what has been built over decades.

The main conclusion from this comparison is extremely simple and uncomfortable.

War cannot be a screen for corruption.
War cannot be an excuse for political survival.

Ukraine today vitally needs more toughness towards the authorities and real equality before the law of war.
And Israel needs that moral impulse and public inspiration that once made the whole world believe in the impossible.

Neither of us has a spare country.
And therefore, we have no right to lose the battle for the right to be ourselves — which we discuss on NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency.