History in the small colony of Israel has a way of circling back on itself, presenting old dilemmas in new clothing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent remarks — warning of Israel’s growing isolation and the need to evolve into a kind of “super-Sparta” with an autarkic economy — echo back across decades. Why, American officials asked, should Israel pursue its own advanced fighter when U.S.-made F-16s were cheaper, readily available, and already battle-tested? It calls up the very mythology of the West, which Israel has long claimed as its inheritance. Israel has long tried to drape itself in Athens’ robes, marketing itself as a Mediterranean cosmopolis.