A new definition of national resilience (NR) is developed, based on strength to vulnerability ratio (perceived NR divided by sense of danger). Four resilience‐promoting variables predict components of this NR: gender, religiosity, political attitudes, and level of exposure to war. The study was conducted 4 months after the 2014 Israel‐Gaza war. The sample comprised a total of 510 Jewish Israeli civilians (age range 18–85 years): 251 live in southern Israel and were threatened by this war and 259 live in northern Israel and were not threatened by this war. Results showed that the 4 predictors indeed predicted components of NR. The explained variance of NR determined by the strength to vulnerability ratio was higher than the explained variance of a conventional measure of this resilience. No significant differences were found in NR between the 2 samples. The advantages of the new definition of NR are discussed.