This is the question that each Israeli must face individually and that the State must deal with collectively:
Esther herself was not very happy to singularize herself.
She was comfortable in the royal palace, and she wanted to live a quiet, happy life as queen in the strictest neutrality.
When the situation forces her to act, she does not do so willingly: Mordecai has to force her to do so.
He reminds her that her own safety is illusory and that the reason she came to the throne was to save her people.
This same comment is made frequently to the Jewish people today.
In the past Jews could be followers.
Today, "the royal role" of statehood calls for another position.
The sole justification of history is to attain the status of decision maker, and this role justifies both the past and the present.
If you cannot assume this role, people will say—as Mordecai said to Esther—"You and your family will perish," and history will cease to have a meaning.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From The Seven Lights by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz