Israel is at a critical moment, with the fierce war in Gaza coming to an end. Despite the IDF’s remarkable successes, the war’s objectives have not yet been achieved.
About half of the hostages have not yet been released. Two-thirds of the territory in the Gaza Strip has been captured, but Hamas has not yet been defeated. Evacuees in the south and north have not yet returned to their homes. And the head of the Hezbollah snake has not yet been severed.
Those pulling the strings in Tehran continue to plot. How should I proceed?
If we are to successfully address the military, social and political challenges stacked on our national table, urgent civil action is needed: restoring Israeli society’s trust in the country’s leadership. As of today, only 35% of the population trusts the government (about 75% trust her IDF commander).
This is a narrow and unstable support base that will make it difficult to make the consequential, Ben-Gurion-type decisions needed at this time. The entire political system, including the coalition government and opposition parties, must regain its senses and take concrete actions to bridge the gap in trust.
National majority for national decisions
First and most importantly, in contrast to the current situation where ideological extremists have a real and effective veto over the Prime Minister, national decision-making on existential issues is controlled by the Israeli majority. This means that it should be left to the people who represent it. The proper way to achieve this change would be to go to a general election, but this would hinder Israeli unity.
Trust in the leadership can be regained in a variety of ways even without elections. The Prime Minister’s decision to change the composition of the coalition government. The ruling coalition MPs’ decision to force this on him. The opposition’s decision to join a coalition government under conditions that reduce the power of extreme forces.
Both of these options require elected officials to act despite the risk of harming their own personal interests. However, this is not an excessive request. This, and more than this, is how the tens of thousands of Israeli reservists who are now returning to their homeland behaved.
Each reservist could have turned their backs and left their share of the nation’s burden to others, but they chose to stand up for themselves and paid a personal price. It is not “only” about the courage manifested in battle, when adrenaline is secreted and lives are actually at risk, but over time, it becomes more common than personal comfort, the well-being of people. The same can be said about their readiness to prioritize the interests of. their families, and their own economic interests.
They spend their harsh days in cramped tanks, wearing protective clothing and wet socks that are blown by the heavy wind, cut off from communication with their wives, husbands, children, and parents, and worried about their livelihoods. is the enemy. of heroism. But his 120 days have passed since Simhat Torah, and these reservists turned out to be true heroes.
The pioneering “Parma Generation” who founded the state feared that the hedonistic “Espresso Generation” of the 1960s would not know how to sustain the state. The Six Day War, followed by the Yom Kippur War, demonstrated the resilience of this generation.
The same is doubly true now. I had doubts about the youth of our country – seekers of self-actualization and mindfulness, individualistic careerists, successful and proud in a high-tech country, liberal people for whom the whole world is their home. All people. They received the answer that they would grease their tanks, crouch in the sands of Shejaia, drive through rigged tunnels, and make do with weekly showers and combat rations. The “TikTok generation” is here – strong, determined, and ready to take on any national mission. Israeli society is proving its collective resilience, both to itself and to its enemies.
Those who returned from the battlefield, including my children and son-in-law, became more introverted and serious, and they all returned home with heartwarming reports. “The importance of the mission is clear to all.” “We left our ideological differences at home.” “We understand that we will be redeployed to continue the fight.” , everyone is scheduled to arrive.”
This is what all of our combatants look like. Do we, Israeli society and especially our leaders, deserve them?
Before we muster them into further combat missions, we must act to restore Israelis’ confidence in their national leadership. The current coalition government requires change, and the burden will fall on incumbent MPs from the coalition and opposition parties.
Each of them must rise to the occasion and act in the national interest, in accordance with their oath to “faithfully carry out their duties in the Diet.” The spirit of the IDF on the Gaza-Lebanon border should also be fulfilled in the Jerusalem parliament.
The author is Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Studies and Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University.