Nations like to imagine themselves as unique, but one belief they have in common is that it is noble to die in their name.  Death and redemption are the themes of almost every form of patriotism.  In the case of Israel, however, the connection between nationalism and death is especially visceral.  For the Jewish state is a nation that emerged from the ashes of a project of extermination, and that sees itself as the best defense against the renewal of violent persecution.  Zionism, the state's ruling ideology, is a triumphal creed shadowed by death.