Victor Davis Hanson explains why most Americans support Israel, and why many European intellectuals do not. In Israel, Hanson argues, most Americans recognize a version of America itself: Israel is a secular, pluralistic democracy with a free press and a penchant for cultural and technological ingenuity born from an ethos of freedom. The success of their military reflects

the abject lethality of the Western way of war. Here perhaps lies the greatest misunderstanding of military history on the part of the Arab world. The so-called Islamic street believes that sheer numbers and territory