Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Lessons for Taiwan: Israeli Social Resilience During War

Guermantes Lailari

Many news reports about the Israel-Hamas war highlight casualties, deaths, and destruction. Journalists rarely delve into how either society has responded and mobilized to deal with the war. This article provides a brief view of how Israel and Israelis have reacted to the war as individuals, groups, and as a nation. A useful template for Taiwan to prepare for a potential future conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is how Israelis self-organized to deal with this crisis.

Prior to the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, Israelis were even more polarized about public policy than the US or Taiwan. Israelis were conducting weekly demonstrations of between 100,000 and 250,000 against Supreme Court reforms proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. Israeli citizens were so divided that some military reservists protested the proposed reforms by refusing to discharge their duty to their reserve military units.

Jaw and Wu could be liabilities

Taipei Times Editorial

The three teams running in January’s presidential election were finally settled on Friday last week, but as the official race started, the vice-presidential candidates of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have attracted more of the spotlight than the presidential candidates in the first week.

After the two parties’ anticipated “blue-white alliance” dramatically broke up on the eve of the registration deadline, the KMT’s candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the next day announced Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) as his running mate, while TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced TPP Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) as his running mate.

CCP ‘carrot, stick’ success waning: expert

Taipei Times

China might implement pressure campaigns in the run-up to Taiwan’s presidential election next month, including introducing investment incentives and conducting military exercises around the country, to try and sway voters to cast their ballot in a more pro-Beijing direction, an expert said on Thursday.

In contrast to how official communications with Taiwan were severed after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won her first-term victory in 2016, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued full steam ahead in its efforts to win the hearts of Taiwanese business people, said Kung Shan-son (龔祥生), a researcher at the Taiwan government-funded think tank Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

Fight with ballots, not bullets

Lee Hsiao-feng 李筱峰

New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) is a so-called “native blue,” meaning an ethnic Taiwanese member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Ever since the KMT nominated Hou as its presidential candidate in July, public support rating had been in the doldrums. The KMT’s “blue fighters” look down on Hou, as most explicitly expressed by songwriter Liu Chia-chang (劉家昌), who called him “a sack of straw minus the straw.”

With the party’s prospects looking rather shaky, the KMT negotiated with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) about forming a “blue-white” joint presidential ticket with Hou and TPP Chairman and presidential nominee Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).

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