Chaim Herzog

“Any nation aspiring to establish an independent national state on the Palestinian land-bridge had thus to accept a primary fact of life: it was destined to live under nearly constant concentric pressure from near and far, and only constant military preparedness could guarantee its survival. It is probably no coincidence that the only people to create a national commonwealth on the Palestinian land-bridge that lasted (with only short interruptions) for an appreciable period (twelve centuries from the twelfth century bc onwards) is the Jewish people. During this long period, the Jews were more”
― Chaim Herzog, Battles of the Bible: A military history of ancient Israel