Mod­ern Israel’s found­ing fathers pro­vid­ed some of the bold­est and most prin­ci­pled lead­er­ship of any nation — now Israel needs their exam­ple more than ever. At a time when the polit­i­cal des­tiny of Israel is more uncer­tain than at any moment since its mod­ern found­ing, Be Strong and of Good Courage cel­e­brates the defin­ing gen­er­a­tion of lead­ers who took on the task of safe­guard­ing the country’s future. David Ben-Guri­on, Men­achem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon were all present at the cre­ation of the new nation in 1948. Over the next six­ty years, each served as prime min­is­ter at a time when the country’s exis­tence was direct­ly imper­iled. In those moments, extra­or­di­nary acts of lead­er­ship and strate­gic judg­ment to secure its future were need­ed and these lead­ers rose to the occa­sion. The strength they showed made them not just the polit­i­cal cen­ter of the coun­try but its moral com­pass. Today, Israel may be on the verge of sac­ri­fic­ing the essen­tial char­ac­ter that its great­est cit­i­zens fought to secure. This is the sto­ry of that epic struggle.