Harari warns Israel: if you rely only on force, the war becomes endless

Yuval Noah Harari does not tell Israel to abandon force.

This is important to emphasize right away, because otherwise his thought is easily distorted. He does not suggest that the country, having experienced October 7, live in illusions. He does not argue that Israel does not need an army, intelligence, borders, readiness to strike, and the ability to respond to threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and other enemies.

But Harari talks about something else: if force becomes not a tool of protection but the only faith of the state, then it ceases to provide security. It begins to demand more and more force.

And at some point, the country no longer protects the future but gets stuck in the present, where every day is explained by a new threat, a new enemy, a new justification, and a new necessity to press harder.

It is here that his conversation on May 26, 2026, with Ezra Klein sounds not like a philosophical lecture but as a warning for Israel, Ukraine, Europe, and the whole world, which is once again getting used to the language of empires, ultimatums, and power blackmail.

When force becomes the only language

In the interview, Harari argues against a simple and very seductive formula: the world is ruled by force, power, and dominance.

At first glance, after October 7, such a formula seems especially convincing. Israelis saw that a terrorist organization could break through the border, kill civilians, take hostages, and turn civilian life into a nightmare. After this, it is easy to say: enough illusions, there is only force.

But this is the trap.

Harari reminds us: human societies are not built on brute force alone. If only it worked, people would not have created states, armies, universities, hospitals, tax systems, international treaties, and national communities. The great human history is not only a history of violence. It is also a history of trust between strangers.

A soldier goes to protect people he has never seen.

A doctor treats a patient not because he is a relative.

A citizen pays taxes not because he personally knows all the pensioners, schoolchildren, and wounded whom this money will help.

This is the strength of a common history. Not a myth in the sense of a lie, but a bond without which society falls apart into private fears and private interests.

Why the “strong” often miscalculate

Harari gives the example of Putin, who was sure that Ukraine would collapse in 48 hours.

It did not collapse.

And this is an important lesson not only for Ukraine. It is a lesson for all politicians who look at the map, count tanks, missiles, money, population—and do not see what cannot be quickly measured: the will of society, identity, horizontal solidarity, the readiness of people to defend their home.

Putin bet on brute force and was wrong exactly where empires make mistakes again and again. He took the state for administration, the people for a mass, and fear for a guarantee of victory.

Ukraine showed the opposite.

For Israel, this example is important not because the Ukrainian and Israeli situations are the same. They are different. But both countries live in a world where enemies test: can they again seize, kill, press, and wait for the rest to get used to it.

Nationalism: love for one’s own or a cult of hatred

One of the strong parts of Harari’s conversation is his defense of nationalism from those who themselves have turned nationalism into a caricature.

He says: nationalism in the normal sense is not hatred of others. It is love for one’s own.

It sounds simple, but for Israel, this is almost a central theme. The Israeli nation was built as a project of mutual responsibility: the army, repatriation, Hebrew, memory, kibbutzim, cities, universities, medicine, technological breakthrough, the ability to gather people from different countries and make a society out of them.

Such nationalism does not require constant hysteria.

It does not require that every dispute within the country be declared treason. It does not require hating everyone around to prove loyalty to one’s own.

But when the national idea begins to feed only on fear and hatred, it gradually devours itself. First, the enemy becomes an external opponent. Then—the opposition. Then—the courts. Then—the press. Then—half of one’s own people.

Thus, society can remain strong externally but weaken internally.

For Israel, this is especially dangerous because the country cannot afford internal rot. It has too little strategic depth, too many enemies, and too high a price for mistakes.

In the middle of this conversation, it is important to fix the main thing: NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers such topics not as abstract philosophy but as part of the real agenda of Israel, Ukraine, and the Jewish world. Because today the war is not only on the fronts. It is in politics, in memory, in media, in social networks, in technologies, and in the very stories through which societies explain to themselves who they are.

Ukraine and the taboo that cannot be broken

Harari separately talks about the international taboo on seizing other countries by force.

This taboo has never been perfect. The world after World War II did not become a paradise. There were wars, occupations, crimes, cynicism of great powers.

But there was still a basic rule: you cannot just come and take another country because you are stronger.

Russia is breaking this rule.

And if the world finally gets used to such logic, it will not become safer for anyone. Not for Ukraine. Not for Israel. Not for small countries. Not for medium states. Even for large powers, it will not become calmer because everyone will start arming even more.

When trust in rules disappears, a race of fear remains.

And a race of fear is always more expensive than politics. It takes money from medicine, education, infrastructure, science, social assistance. It makes every state nervous, suspicious, and ready for the worst.

Israel between Rome and Yavne

The most painful Israeli fragment in Harari is not about Gaza and not even about Netanyahu. It is deeper.

He talks about two thousand years of Jewish history after the destruction of the Second Temple. About Yavne. About Yohanan ben Zakkai. About the tradition in which the Jewish people survived not thanks to legions but thanks to study, debate, text, memory, law, and the ability to be different.

This does not cancel Zionism.

On the contrary, Zionism arose because the Jewish people could no longer depend only on the mercy of others. Jews had to have a home, an army, land, a language, a state, strength.

But the plan was not just to become Rome.

Not to say after two thousand years of exile: now we also understand that the main thing is legions, walls, and destroyed cities.

The real question sounds different: can the Jewish state be strong and at the same time not lose the Jewish tradition of self-criticism, law, debate, and moral concern?

This is a difficult question. Sometimes even unpleasant.

But Israel cannot afford not to ask it.

The pain of another does not make your pain less

After October 7, Israeli pain is enormous. It did not end on the day of the attack. It continues in the families of the killed, in the fate of the hostages, in the trauma of the survivors, in the fear of the residents of the south and north, in the feeling that the previous contract between the state and the citizen was violated.

Therefore, it is difficult for many Israelis to hear about the suffering of Palestinians.

Not because they do not understand anything. But because inside there is a defense: if we talk about their pain now, as if our pain will become less, as if Hamas will be justified, as if the world will again demand that Israel be silent and endure.

But Harari separates one from the other.

Recognizing the suffering of a Palestinian child does not mean justifying Hamas.

Recognizing the suffering of an Israeli family does not mean approving every decision of the Israeli government.

Pain does not have to be propaganda.

The problem begins where society can no longer hold two thoughts at the same time. Yes, Hamas committed a terrorist massacre. Yes, Palestinian civilians also suffer. Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself. Yes, the force of response and political strategy require questions. Yes, the enemy is cruel. Yes, the cruelty of the enemy does not absolve the state of responsibility for its own choices.

This is more complicated than a slogan.

But adult politics is always more complicated than a slogan.

Hamas itself destroyed its political victory

Harari speaks harshly about October 7: Hamas achieved a military shock, but with its own cruelty destroyed the possibility of a great political victory.

If the terrorists had attacked only the military, if they had not killed and kidnapped civilians, if there had been no sadism, massacre, demonstrative violence, the international reaction could have looked completely different.

But Hamas did what a terrorist organization does: it struck at civilians, turned murder into a message, and the human body into an instrument of political spectacle.

That is why the nature of Hamas cannot be blurred with beautiful words about “resistance.”

But there is also a second layer here. Hamas wanted Israel to respond in such a way that the world would begin to see Israel through the eyes of its enemies. This is the classic logic of terrorist movements: to provoke a strong opponent into a response that will destroy its moral capital.

Israel won many battles.

But Harari’s question is different: what story will Israel leave after this war?

Social networks, AI, and the new war for humanity

The conversation then goes beyond Israel, but in fact, it remains about Israel too.

Harari says: social networks have not destroyed trust. They have shifted it from people to algorithms.

A person no longer believes journalists, scientists, doctors, courts, universities, the state. But he believes the feed that every day offers him fear, rage, conspiracy, humiliation, threat, and enemy.

Why?

Because the algorithm does not need truth. It needs engagement. And fear, hatred, and anger engage best.

Israel after October 7 found itself inside a perfect digital storm: footage of attacks, videos of hostages, debates about Gaza, international pressure, internal political war, Iranian propaganda, Russian narratives, emotional posts, fragments without context, screams instead of analysis.

Such a space does not help society think.

It keeps it in a state of constant excitement.

And a person is not created for endless anxiety. Sooner or later, he either breaks down, becomes coarse, or stops feeling.

AI as a new “immigration”

The most alarming part of the interview is about the future of artificial intelligence.

Harari offers an unusual metaphor: AI is a new wave of immigration. Only these are not people crossing the border. These are digital entities coming to all countries simultaneously and at the speed of light.

They will work as teachers, doctors, lawyers, bankers, advisors, soldiers, border guards, journalists, psychologists, friends, romantic partners.

And they will change not only the labor market.

They will change culture, language, relationships, childhood, politics, trust, and human closeness itself.

If social networks hacked attention, AI will hack attachment. It will be able to talk to a person as if it understands him better than anyone. Praise, support, agree, argue, adapt, create a sense of closeness.

For an adult, this is a risk.

For a child, it is a possible restructuring of the entire psyche.

Israel as a technological power cannot look at this only as a market of opportunities. Yes, AI will give the army, medicine, business, and education huge tools. But it will also bring the biggest social experiment in history.

And no one yet knows how it will end.

The main question for Israel

This entire conversation with Harari is not “against Israel.”

And not “for weakness.”

Rather the opposite. It is an attempt to say: the real strength of the state is not only in the army. It is also in the ability not to lose one’s head after trauma. Not to take rage for strategy. Not to confuse revenge with security. Not to let the enemy write your story for you.

Israel must be strong.

But if it is only strong, it may not be enough.

Because a state survives not by the army alone. It survives by the trust of citizens, the quality of institutions, alliances, economy, the ability to self-correct, the responsibility of leaders, moral resilience, and a clear understanding of why strength is needed at all.

Strength can stop an attack.

But it does not always know how to build the future.

That is why Harari’s warning sounds so sharp: Israel should not choose between security and conscience, between the army and history, between protecting its own and the ability to see reality fully.

The hardest task is to keep it all together.

And if Israel succeeds, it will remain not only a strong state but also a society that remembers why it needs this strength.