Israeli citizens are used to living under constant threat. Israel has been in an official state of war since the day it was founded in 1948. This is just part of the Israeli “routine.” In fact, it doesn't even prevent Israelis from being ranked first or second in terms of “happiness,” as evidenced in the UN World Happiness Report, polls by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other surveys. Only one threat rouses Israelis to true panic: Hamas' tunnels.
There is something about the tunnel phenomenon that elicits a deep fear in the toughest of Israelis. Residents of the Gaza envelope don't sleep so well thinking that Islamic jihadis might emerge at any given moment from the depths of the earth in the heart of a kibbutz to kill or abduct them and disappear without a trace. In recent weeks, this threat returned to the Israeli public's attention in a major way.
