A late afternoon sun shone down on an army of the blue and white Israeli flags lining the Highway One from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last week. The stirring sight marked the beginning of Israel’s season of secular high holy days, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day, marking the fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars, and Independence Day.

There was another, somewhat less majestic flag that flew alongside the Magen David one, a light-blue one with Hebrew lettering. It was the banner of the Israeli Public Works Department, the arm of the government that maintains the roads.

As Israel prepares for its 60th year of its existence, the miraculous and the mundane coexist — just as the flag of a people flies alongside that of a government department.

For much of its history, from David Ben-Gurion through Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon, the country was blessed with a collection of visionary, pragmatic, and brave political leaders. Today, though, scandal and political woes beset Israel’s leadership, from Prime Minister Olmert to Defense Minister Peretz to President Katsav.

The results from investigating the painful failures of last summer’s Lebanon war by the Winograd Commission will be released soon. The ramifications of the report could be seismic. Criminal proceedings have been taken against Mr. Katsav due to allegations of sexual assault. Aside from the questions of leadership emanating from how Mr. Olmert handled last summer’s war, he is also under scrutiny for his financial dealings. His finance minister, Avraham Hirschson, has temporarily resigned from his post amid a legal probe into his alleged financial corruption.

Five days of my recent visit in Israel, under the sponsorship of the American Israel Education Fund, along with other journalists, coincided with the 120 hours of community service of the former justice minister, Haim Ramon, performed for forcing a young female soldier to be kissed.

The current leaders in power possess peccadilloes that bring to mind backwater city councilors — not leaders who will help mold the future of Israel. On the right, Benjamin Netanyahu is the head of the Likud Party. Polls suggest he is popular nationally, although an election will not be held for more than two-and-a-half years. Still, there are those on the right who say Mr. Netanyahu is no salvation. “Netanyahu is a man of principles but he doesn’t have the personality to keep them,” the director general of the Begin Center and a one-time aide to Yitzhak Shamir, Herzi Makov, said. “On CNN, he is very good.”

Did Theodor Herzl write the book, “Der Judenstaat,” that calls for the creation of the state of Israel, did the early Zionists turn swamps into farmlands, and did Israel fend off a multitude of Arab attacks aimed at ending its existence for all of this? The answer, oddly, is yes.

Israel’s founders envisioned their country as a “normal” one — with both the good and the bad. Like Great Britain, France, Spain, and America, it must have leaders who are just as good as leaders elsewhere, but also must have the strength to endure the strain that comes from bad leaders. What is remarkable about the public life of today’s Israel is that the country, under constant duress, with a population just over 7 million, has the depth to weather the storms and the scandals. Israel has entered a period in which the sum of its institutions is stronger than the force of any of its leaders’ personality.

A glimpse of the country’s physical infrastructure reinforces the strength — not weakness — of Israel’s society. Ben-Gurion Airport is a brand new and beautifully constructed airport that was designed in the era of terrorism. It also has an efficiency far above most American airports with considerable built-in allowances for homeland security.

In 2006, the airport came in first out of 40 European airports in an “Airport Service Quality” survey by the Airports Council International. Key tourist spots, such as Masada, have impressive new amenities built up for travelers such as a state-of-the-art welcome center for tourists. And a new light-rail system is being constructed in Jerusalem.

Fueling all this, of course, is an economy of innovation. Foreign investment in Israel was $21 billion in 2006 — up threefold from $7 billion in 2004. “This is a risk embracing society,” an Israeli venture capitalist, Jonathan Medved, said.

As glum as the news on the military front has appeared, it’s not anywhere near as bad as the perception. According to a spokesman for the Israel Army, Major Manny Socolovsky, Israel’s air force met with success in the early days of its struggle against Hezbollah. “In 34 minutes, the Israeli Air Force took out their mid and long-range missiles,” he said. Perhaps this is a sign that an Israeli air campaign could meet with success if called upon to strike Iran, admittedly a much more difficult job than hitting sites in Lebanon. Additionally, Israeli infantry units fought with courage demonstrating that the spirit of the country still flows in the veins of its young people. Most hopeful, the Israel Defense Force has learned its lesson from the conflict — a painful but important process — and is already implementing new training tactics.

For better or for worse, a leader will have to emerge who can guide Israel through a period of external trouble emanating from Iran and elsewhere in the Islamic world. It may seem dark on the leader front, but even America had to endure Taylor, Fillmore, and Buchanan, after we had Washington, Jefferson, and Madison and before we could find Lincoln.

Israel’s strength, like that of America’s, is that it is, to use the words of another great leader, John Adams, “a government of laws, and not of men.”

Mr. Gitell (gitell.com) is a contributing editor of The New York Sun.