How has the use of the Masada story in Israeli society changed over that time?
The use of the Masada story changed in 1967. Until then, the Masada story was the number one illustration of our story – brave rebels stuck in the fortress on a mountain in the desert, with a huge army, the biggest army in the world surrounding us, and we have to make a choice. Of course, the use of the story was not to make us commit suicide. On the contrary, it was used in order to elevate our spirits to fight, to get the rights for us to kill others, not to commit suicide. It’s a reverse use of the values of the story. But in 1967, something changed. Israel proved itself to be the strongest state in the region, not to say empire. And the feeling of siege changed. Now we had the Wailing Wall. So the most important site to visit became the Wailing Wall, not Masada. You can find tourists now who visit the Wailing Wall, but not Masada. Still, I grew up on Masada. Both of my children were taught it at school. When you were growing up, was Masada counterposed to the Holocaust experience,