Was this why we wandered the desert for forty years – until the generation finally straightened up and believed?

There are moments in history when you pause, rub your eyes, and ask yourself:
Wait. Is this actually happening to us?

Israel.
The same country that once stockpiled gas canisters like canned tuna, lived in perpetual fear of power outages, and treated electricity as a luxury item – is now casually talking about exporting gas, regional pipelines, and energy partnerships with Arab states.

Not in a dream.
Not in a glossy PowerPoint from the Ministry of Energy with turquoise graphs.
In real life.

Which raises the obvious question:
Is this why we wandered the desert for forty years?
Why we drilled, argued, mocked, protested, warned, formed investigative committees about investigative committees – until the generation finally aligned itself and dared to believe there was something under the sand?

Gas, or: How a Nation of Coupons Became a Nation of Reserves

For decades, we were told there was nothing here.
“No oil. No gas. Just brains.”

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In Israel, when someone tells you “we only have brains,” it usually means:
There’s nothing – deal with it.

And then suddenly:
Tamar. Leviathan. Karish. Tanin.
Not a zoo – a national energy map.

The same officials, experts, and commentators moved gracefully from:
“It’s dangerous” → “It’s not economical” → “It harms the environment” →
“Why didn’t we do this earlier?”

Because in Israel, the moment something succeeds, the first instinct is to explain why it’s actually a problem.

Forty Years in the Desert – and Everyone Wanted to Be Egypt

Like the biblical story, a generation had to get lost before another could rise –
one willing to believe.

Not in miracles.
Not in utopias.
But in pipelines. In drilling. In contracts. In dense legal English signed at the bottom of the page.

The old generation saw gas as a curse.
The new one sees it as a strategic anchor.

Because unlike inflated peace dreams, energy works.
A pipeline connects better than any speech.
A kilowatt-hour does more for peace than a thousand European-funded seminars.

Cold Peace, Warm Electricity

Egypt. Jordan. The Gulf states.
Suddenly everyone speaks fluent Hebrew when it comes to BTUs and MMBtus.

Suddenly Israel isn’t “the occupation” –
it’s the supplier.

Not “the problem,” but the temporary solution until a permanent one is found.

This isn’t peace with hugs.
It’s peace with contracts.
Peace without selfies.
Peace where no one asks if you love them – only whether you’ll meet the deadline.

And in the Middle East, that’s the only kind of peace that actually lasts.

And Who’s Unhappy? Of Course. Everyone.

Because in Israel, when you find gold, the first step is to explain why you mustn’t touch it.
When you discover gas, someone immediately gets emotionally injured by the word “drilling.”

You’re never allowed to simply profit.
You must feel guilty.
You must form a committee.
You must warn that it will “change the character of the state.”

As if anyone still remembers what that character was, beyond endless arguments and obscene electricity bills.

Energy = Sovereignty (Sorry for the Word)

Let’s say it plainly, without apologizing:
A country that doesn’t control its energy doesn’t really control itself.

Those who believed “high-tech is enough” quickly discovered that code doesn’t heat homes in winter and startups don’t keep the lights on when Europe panics.

Gas isn’t sexy.
But it’s stable.
And it doesn’t demand emotional apologies on Twitter.

And miraculously, just as the world preaches “sustainability,” it quietly begs whoever still has gas –
without admitting it out loud.

So Was This Why We Wandered the Desert?

Yes.
To understand that not every promise needs a prophet.
Some come from a drill five kilometers underground.

To realize that not everyone shouting “forbidden” understands “possible.”
And that in the Middle East – whoever controls energy controls time.

And the generation that finally straightened up?
It simply stopped being afraid to believe.
Not in fairy tales.
In hard, profitable, unapologetic reality.

A Small Conclusion, Before Someone Turns Off the Lights

Israel didn’t become an energy powerhouse because it wanted to.
It became one because it finally stopped sabotaging itself.

And that may be the greatest lesson of forty years in the desert:
Sometimes you don’t need a miracle.
Just the courage not to panic when you discover you have more than you were told.

In the Middle East, my friends,
those who turn the switch on – rule.

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