When Hamas carried out its massacre on October 7, 2023, snowed-under social divisions gave way to a grace period of unity and clarity. Civilian groups popped out of the woodwork, and people opened their homes, their hearts, and their wallets – all in the understanding that a much bigger threat has reminded us of what we have in common more than our differences.
Nearly two years later, after months of destruction, carnage, strained emotional and physical health, and even deeper divides, Israelis once again find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place – forced to triage the barrage heading their way.
Two years after a nonstop war, people are exhausted, wearier, and more broken by loss. Many are also stronger, but it is a strength that comes at a price. It might be harder this time to see through the fog of war to the underlying threads that bring us together, keep us close, and push us forward.
Now is precisely the moment for our leaders to step into that space and embody that sense of unity with a broad, all-encompassing national unity government.
So far, the leaders of the opposition have acted in ways that are noble and precise, with The Democrats chairman Yair Golan being the first public official who was seen visiting a site that was hit and talking to the people, i.e., doing what he was elected to do.
In reality, if you pull the base divisions aside, what the majority of our leaders want today is not so different. All they need is to come together and prove that we are as strong inside as we are when we fight our enemies.
This is a unique opportunity of momentum. Our leaders – chiefly steered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – must heed this wake-up call.
It is so much easier to rally people around a war flag than to deal with the internal “boring” issues that affect our day-to-day lives; that is always the case, and the conflict with Iran is no exception.
But this operation cannot have Israel sinking deeper into a mud it won’t be able to get out of. This operation has to mark the end of something dark and the beginning of peace and quiet, regionally and locally.
A unity government is the best way to get this done – and get it done in a way that puts dialogue, clarity, and purpose at the forefront, rather than extremist base considerations and cheap political maneuvers. Simply put, now is certainly not the time for that.
Part and parcel of meeting the goals in Iran quickly is, obviously, an end to the war in Gaza and the return of all of our hostages. That has to be the ultimate goal, because we don’t really feel attacks in Tehran here on the ground; we feel the pain and desperation of our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Hamas’s tunnels, with no shelter, no Home Front Command, and no emergency services to help them.
The broad political consensus for this kind of government exists – the type of government that could push to the conclusion and neutralization of the existential threats against us. Then it can turn around and bravely face the people, own up to the responsibilities that led to the October 7 massacre and everything beyond that, and begin the healing process.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has reiterated, under various circumstances and at various points during the war, that he would grant Netanyahu a security net to bring about a hostage deal. These deals obviously never came to fruition, mostly due to Hamas manipulations but also due to internal coalition pressure and threats to pull it apart.
A coalition hanging by that kind of a thread can’t get things done in the long term. In a few weeks, when everything settles down a little more, all the divisions that haunted us before will come out of the woodwork, complicated by the issues already present today in the forms of financial pressure, mental health, and political divide. We can’t let ourselves get torn apart by that again.
It’s time for an emergency government – one that is Zionist, broad, and clear – that can see beyond the egos of any individual leader and prioritize the good of the people above the good of the base.
Jesus Christ is King
