ABSTRACT
Israelis are fascinated with themselves and unrestrained in the adjectives that they employ about their country. They are the Chosen People living in the Promised Land. More than two millennia of revering the Hebrew Bible have given those labels sacred meaning. 1 For modern Israelis, they affect the way they view themselves. Their country's failure to live up to aspirations means it is intolerable. 2 Political activists express their frustrations in Hebrew with a hyperbole that resembles the style of the ancient prophets.
