If in the first few weeks we thought that the terrorist invasion in the south was a disaster, I think differently today. I surprised myself when I said that out loud for the first time two months ago. Israel seems to show no remorse for the decisions, policies and behavior that led up to the attack. Nor am I alone in thinking this.
Yes, October 7 hurt, but not enough. Israel needs to suffer more to come to its senses, unfortunately. Israel needs to be hit much harder to change its ways. Fifteen hundred dead is a hell of a lot, but not enough! Not enough to put everything aside and finally understand that we have to save the country together. Operation Arnon, the recent hostage rescue mission, is an example of how all the special forces, soldiers and units worked together, put their egos aside and thus freed four captives from hell.
See: Tachles with Aviel – What we can learn from the rescue operation
This is also what the people expect from the government, the Knesset and the security forces in order to rescue the people victoriously from this war. But there is increasing conflict between politicians, generals and leading rabbis. In addition, there are growing protests against the government, some of which are raising their voices against the elected leaders in Jerusalem alongside the families of the kidnapped Israelis. Together, they accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of delaying the war in order to survive politically. That is why he does not want a hostage deal or a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The government rejects this and blames everything on Hamas, which keeps demanding more from Israel. There is also disagreement among the people as to whether Israel should end the war just to free the remaining 120 hostages, of whom no one knows exactly how many are alive and how many are dead.
The point is that no one believes and trusts their neighbor if they are not on the same side when it comes to politics. This makes any rescue operation for Israel impossible. For the left-wing opponents of Bibi, all of Israel’s politics are wrong, dirty and suspect. In their view, all political decisions are made only for political reasons, ie. not to serve the people, but to save Bibi’s throne. They are really afraid that this so-called “messianic coalition” could plunge Israel into the abyss. The religious zealots and cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are exploiting the situation, because without them, Bibi’s coalition will fall. Both see this as the start of the messianic age in Zion. Whether that is true or not, their opponents are convinced of it.
On the other hand, the Bibi fans and the right-wing and religious Jews are just as suspicious of their opponents on the left. The leftist elite want to get rid of Bibi and the right-wingers. And the elite includes not only Israel’s judiciary, but also Israel’s military. This is why Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot ultimately quit the unity government and the war cabinet. Now Ben-Gvir and Smotrich no longer have an excuse that if the Israeli army does not react and fight sufficiently in their view, which was previously due to the cautious strategy of Gantz and Eisenkot in the war cabinet. Now they can only criticize Bibi. In addition, the right-wing government takes its Orthodox allies into consideration and rejects or postpones every draft law to recruit Orthodox yeshiva students. And this in times of war, when the Israeli army needs every man. But the government does what it wants, even though conscription for everyone, including Orthodox Jews, is a painful issue for the people right now.
Hanan Ben-Ari, one of the country’s greatest and most popular singers, and a religious Jew, wrote in his last post:
“My ultra-Orthodox brothers, join the army. We need you. This is a real wake-up call. The blood of our brothers and sisters is crying out to us from the ground. The people of Israel are in need. My ultra-Orthodox brothers, I am writing to you sincerely and painfully, without intermediaries and without going through politicians. I love you, but we need you in the army.”
Most people agree that Orthodox Jews must also serve the state. But the right-wing media are once again denigrating the left, claiming that they want to use this charged issue to politically attack Bibi and his government. On this issue, the majority of people agree that Bibi and his coalition should put an end to the political blackmail by the Orthodox parties.
The Israeli media are like a mirror that reflects to all of us how we behave in the country. The more left-leaning TV channels, such as N12, 13 or KAN11, are fiercely criticizing the government, but on N12 the loudest voice is Amit Segal, a religious commentator who is considered Bibi’s mouthpiece. This is not the case on the right-wing stage of Channel 14, for example. There, too, they are just looking for dirt on the other side, as if everything in their right-wing coalition was perfect and holy. They criticise the left-wing channels for unfair and biased reporting, but they do exactly the same thing. They are just looking for things to use to denigrate the other side. I repeat, the others have done this too. But no one on any side understands the hour in which we find ourselves, when everything must be put on hold in order to save and preserve the wonderful gift of Israel.
The regular surveys on political developments and decisions in the Israeli media prove that everything revolves around politics, whether right or left. Politicians are more concerned with positioning themselves than with actually helping Israel out of trouble. Yesterday on Shabbat morning, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, and in the evening politicians were arguing in the media about the situation in the country. For some, the government is doing nothing to end the war, for others it would be best to raze the Gaza Strip to the ground once and for all. Eight dead soldiers naturally worsen the poll ratings for the right-wing government and Bibi.
I don’t care who benefits from it as long as there is no unity and peace among the people. When the four hostages were freed, Bibi’s Likud rose in the polls. After tragedies in the Gaza Strip or on the northern border, the coalition’s popularity wanes. What the government, opposition and media are concerned with are polls. Who has the best chance of winning the next election. Instead of defeating the enemy, our politicians are too preoccupied with themselves. And you often hear this from all sides. More and more people are of the opinion that the entire political system needs to be cleansed. But how? All 120 members of the Knesset in Jerusalem should be released early with severance pay. The main thing is that they leave. As it stands now, no one is working with anyone else in parliament. Each side is making political life difficult for the other, and of course each side has the appropriate excuse for doing so.
The mood on the home front is now as if nothing had happened. We argue in the cafes, on the street, at work, in the media, and blame everything on the next person who thinks differently than we do. I take the Israeli soldiers out of the equation, they are the most sacred thing we have among the people. “All honor to the army! Let the army win!” But no one around us seems to really recognize and regret their mistakes.
Do you know where the children of Israel really repented of their sins? In foreign lands! From a biblical perspective, what was always the harshest punishment for the people? Exile! According to the biblical text (Leviticus 26), the children of Israel will only recognize and repent of their sins in exile:
“But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. …when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God.”
This is precisely what Israel must be vigilant against in these days. If we as a people do not recognize and repent of our hostility toward one another, then we must return to exile so we can recognize our sins and repent. Rabbis, politicians and former generals warn that Israel will not win a war if the people do not come together and act in harmony. If war breaks out in the north and Israel is attacked daily with thousands of rockets from all directions, then we will experience a national horror and an apocalypse like never before.
You were hit hard enough to learn who Israel’s friends and enemies are. The UN has behaved despicably, I don’t know of any of its organisations that have helped you. UNIFIL and UNRWA are clearly assisting Hezbollah and Hamas. The superpowers of the US, Russia and China have aided the Ayatollah against you. World media has almost become an arm of the Gaza health ministry in their reporting. Israel’s rebirth coincided with a particular phase of the establishment of Mystery Babylon. Judaism isn’t up to speed with this phenomenon, although the scriptures address it. Christianity hasn’t embraced their Jewish heritage sufficiently to either pray, counsel or advocate for Israel during these times. They know what Mystery Babylon is and some are becoming willing participants of it, to their shame. (Matthew 13:39-40) Jacob’s trouble is prophesied and he does get saved out of it. (Jer 30:7)
Thanks, a sobering but apt article.
I have just been reading Ezekiel chapter 8. This is a horrific description of why Judah went into the Babylonian exile. There are however parallels with modern Israel ! Will we ever learn.