Tel Aviv as an AI Hub ... A Partner in Regional Mega-Projects A Century of Bloody Wars ... and the Birth of Two Fragile States On this day, crowded with symbolism, Tel Aviv is draped in blue and white. Major roads are closed for vast military parades. Jets trace the Star of David in the sky, while crowds wave flags and sing patriotic songs. Western media broadcast the event as "a celebration of historic achievement," while in Arab capitals and on Palestinian streets, the centenary is remembered as one hundred years of Nakba, not the birthday of a state. Inside Israel, divisions are clear. The religious right proclaims this day as the triumph of the Torah: "After a century of struggle we possess the land from the sea to the river." Settlements once deemed "illegal" are now sprawling cities, and united Jerusalem is an indivisible capital. For this current, the centenary is the final coronation of a religious-nationalist dream. But on the same podium, a pragmatic voice reminds the public of the truth: Israel would never have survived a hundred years without Western support. Washington, Europe, and even parts of Asia sustained the state and fortified it. To the world, Israel is presented as "a democracy in the heart of the Middle East." Yet behind this façade, everyone knows it has endured as an advanced outpost for Western interests. It is no empire, but a protected, functional entity, living by virtue of those who shield it. Elsewhere, analysts hail the "greatest diplomatic achievement": the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Fragile, dependent on aid, its borders are blurred and provisional — but its very existence is hailed internationally as the "realistic solution" that ended the region's major wars. In Jerusalem, UN flags fly over international compounds administering the city, a reminder that the conflict is not resolved but remains frozen under international supervision. In Gaza, Ramallah and the refugee camps, protests rage against the festivities. "One hundred years of Nakba" read the banners. For Palestinians, the recognised state is neither sovereign nor sufficient: no true independence, no right of return. To them, the Israeli celebration is yet another erasure of their cause. Across Arab capitals, the picture is more complex. In Cairo, Riyadh, and Amman, conferences convene on "regional integration" and "shared energy," with maps of pipelines and power grids linking Israel to its neighbours. These governments have chosen to treat Israel as a fact of life, betting that economics could pacify politics. On Arab streets, anger simmers, but governments place pragmatism above passion. To the north, the Lebanese border remains volatile. Hezbollah has not disappeared; Iran still brandishes missiles. Air-raid sirens have sounded in Israeli cities for weeks. Amid military parades, underground bunkers, and reinforced shelters remain a way of life. The centenary is as much a show of strength as a renewal of fear. Inside Israel itself, the contradictions sharpen. Some hail the state as a "Zionist miracle," while others fear that the rift between secular and religious Jews threatens stability more than external enemies. Parliament is fractured, society divided, and the demographic balance between Jews and Palestinians inside Israel intensifies the identity question: are we a Jewish democracy or a disguised apartheid system? Economically, at its centenary, Israel is a global technology power, a hub for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and a key partner in regional infrastructure projects. Yet this prosperity depends on relative calm. Every new round of conflict with Lebanon or Gaza threatens to freeze investment. Investors enter with caution, knowing that another war could erase their gains overnight. In the end, if all voices are combined, the scenario that emerges as most plausible — if current patterns persist through the next 23 years — is one of two states in name only: Israel, militarily and economically strong but internally divided and perpetually anxious; and Palestine, internationally recognised yet fragile, reliant on external support and lacking true sovereignty. The relationship between them is an extended truce — neither full peace nor open war. Thus, on May 14, 2048, Israel marks its centenary – not as a story of absolute triumph. The scene is a complex mixture: flags and parades, protests and anger, economic deals and security fears, with major powers supporting while others watch warily. It is one hundred years of survival, yet survival is one thing, and stability quite another.
