But there is a sense in Israel that they are becoming more like Americans, copying fashions and fads, desiring more material benefits, and losing a unique moral vision (whether secular or religious). This, though, has nothing to do with the Lebanon. Instead it has to do with the process of institutionalization encountered by a second or third generation of settlers.

One young Israeli says, "Maybe we have lost our ideals. Maybe these ideals were good in the past, but maybe we need something new now." A young woman who just got out of the army says, "I'm frightened about us copying America. Maybe we'll just lose what is so special."

"No," her friend said, "we're not special. We just went through different experiences. We have a different frame of mind and we love our country more." But still, even without a "special" quality, said an old man in a cafe. "In Israel you feel that you're in the middle of what's going on. You're never just living; always something is happening."

Through all these different voices, one senses that there is indeed something different--and perhaps special--about Israelis. It has been said that Jews in the Diaspora look to Israel for qualities that are not found by Diaspora Jews at home. Israel depends on the support of such Jews. This support, though, may be threatened when the idealism, egalitarianism and spiritual fervor of the early settles dissipates, and Western--and seemingly amoral--materialism begins to reign.

ISRAELS ARE also wary of allowing the world to see that there are splits within society and politics there. As Ben-Dori says, the Arabs only respect strength, not weakness--and this is achieved through unity. He feels the peace was possible after the 1967 war, but that Israel missed its chance because of heavy infighting within the then-ruling Labor Party. Division is the country's biggest mistake and weakness, he says. A taxi driver in Jerusalem agrees, but for different reasons. "I was in Lebanon for 40 days. When I come back, I want there to be peace in my house What do I think of the situation in the parliament? I don't think."

Yet others see pluralism and internal struggle as a good thing. Some, following the footsteps of those several years ago who called for "normalization" (the emergence of Israel as a normal state with standard modern features), see pluralism as a shared chracteristic with the liberal West. Some offer additional justifications. A mos Oz in the recently translated In the Land of Israel: "A living civilization is a drama of struggle between interpretations, outside influences, and emphases, an unreleating struggle over what is the wheat and what is the chaff, rebellion for the sake of innovation, dismantling for the purpose of reassembling differently, and even putting things in storage to clear the stage for experiment and new creativity."

It is important that people in the U.S. realize that there are important and evolving splits in Israel--that everyone is not the ideological heir of Begin--and that there is the problem of Palestinian Arabs which must be addressed, not ignored whenever possible. There always is hope in Israel, even when inflation runs at 190 percent. As Enoshi says, "The situation is like an infection of the body. It is coming out now into the open, and this can either mean that it will poison the body or the body will become cleansed. And what happens its the next year will be important for the future--it will set the tone for years to come."