“The nation of Israel lives.”

Happy 60th Birthday, Israel.

Much of the world today is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel. And with just cause.

Not only is Israel the most successful representative democracy since the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, it is a surviving democratic republic in the Middle East, a sea of totalitarian thuggery wishing Israel only ill.

Sixty years ago -- the actual anniversary is May 14 but the celebration is being held beginning this week -- Israel declared its independence. And while freedom-loving people everywhere applaud Israel, its very existence has remained challenged every day of its life.

That Israel has defeated all comers is a testament to the power of liberty over tyranny of every stripe. It is a remarkable story.

But Israel at middle age has its own internal challenges these days. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could be ousted in a corruption scandal. And as Raymond Whitaker reports in The Independent, a British newspaper, one-fifth of the population lives below the poverty line, due to, among other factors, an aging population and an influx of poor Jews.

And there's something of an identity crisis, he notes; "the generation of Israelis with concentration-camp tattoos is slowly fading away" and there's "the growing debate about Jewishness."

But the good news is these are growing pains, not death pangs.

We congratulate Israel on its 60th birthday. No doubt, it will have hundreds more.
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