TEL AVIV, Israel – From the frenetic, traffic-choked streets of Tel Aviv to the lonely northern mountain town of Qiryat Shemona – only a few miles from the Lebanese and Syrian borders – some 300 Costa Ricans have built a home away from home in Israel, lured here by family ties, high-tech jobs and a lifelong dream of living in the Jewish state.

TEL AVIV, Israel – Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, the same year Israel declared independence. Sixty-six years later, Costa Rica remains one of the few countries without a standing military, while Israel – whose invasion of Gaza this summer following repeated Hamas rocket attacks drew angry reactions from across Latin America – ranks as one of the world’s most militarized societies.