‘The war in Gaza has ended, but there’s now a big struggle to rediscover Israel’s heart and soul,’ says my old friend David, speaking from his home in Zichron Ya’akov – not far from Haifa.
David was a member of Israel’s elite ‘Shayetet’ commando unit for 22 years, both as a regular soldier and later as a reservist. He fought regularly for his country, undertaking countless perilous missions, and now he’s battling to save Israel from within.
In the past two years he’s spent his spare time supporting those affected by the events of 7 October and protesting against the Netanyahu government’s policies and actions during the war.
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For David and countless others like him, there is relief that the war – despite recent outbursts of fighting – seems to be over. But Israel is a country that is not at peace with itself. Already posters – aimed at Netanyahu and his allies – have begun springing up with the words, ‘We won’t forgive and we won’t forget.’
That blame lies not just for what happened on 7 October and the government’s policy in allowing Hamas to build up its military capability, but also for the division it sowed in Israeli society prior to that terrible day.
Then, Bibi Netanyahu was attempting a judicial coup that would have allowed political control of the courts and broken the back of Israel’s democracy. It was also a way for the prime minister to shut down the legal case against him on charges of corruption.
The government’s actions provoked mass demonstrations throughout Israel. But despite the warnings of the harm it was doing to the country’s social fabric, Netanyahu pressed ahead.
The disaster of 7 October put paid to his efforts, but since then he has done everything to evade responsibility and cling to power.
Netanyahu consistently ignored the pleas of hostage families for a negotiated release, which was possible months ago, and continued the conflict, causing the unnecessary deaths of more Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Over the past two years, he has used every tool at his disposal to look after his own interests, weaponising Bibi-friendly media channels and social media outlets to spew hatred at anyone – including freed hostages – who had the temerity to question his misrule. He has deliberately engineered division so that the Israel of today is more fractured and desperate than at any other time in its history.
All Israelis and Jewish communities around the world have been forced to foot the bill for Netanyahu’s destructiveness. Israelis have, of course, paid the highest price, in blood and trauma. I recently sat with a young man and listened to him tell me – between sobs – about the 12 funerals he’s been to in the past 2 years, for fellow soldiers who have died – two of whom from suicide. Bibi’s legacy is written in the blood of dead Israelis and Palestinians.
Netanyahu and his allies have also spread their political poison to the Diaspora. Following the Heaton Park Synagogue attack, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, invited former BNP member and far-right rabble-rouser Tommy Robinson to Israel.
Chikli described Robinson as ‘a courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam’ while, at the same time, outrageously describing the Board of Deputies as ‘being openly aligned with left-wing, woke, pro-Palestinian parties’.
Division and destruction are the calling cards of this Israeli government, affecting Jews in London, Tel Aviv and elsewhere. And Bibi has no intention of changing his behaviour or his position.
Rumours that he is readying for an early election are circulating in Israel. The words of Donald Trump in Israel a few days ago, calling on Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu for the criminal charges he faces, are seemingly the opening move in Netanyahu’s campaign to remain as prime minister.
But that cannot be allowed to happen, for the sake of Israel, its democracy, and the values that we as Jews hold dear.
That is why efforts are underway here and in Israel to highlight the danger posed by Netanyahu to Israel and to all the Jewish world.
British Jews and expatriate Israelis in London are organising under the banner of ‘SOS Israel’ and holding an event in early November. It will coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. He was a soldier of peace but also a man who knew war and who was determined to forge a better future for all Israelis. He was selfless and courageous – qualities that stand in direct opposition to those of the current Prime Minister but which are needed more than ever.
Despite the fatigue felt by everyone over the events of the past two years, now is the time for Jews everywhere to show their support for Israelis who are determined – more than ever – not to let hatred and extremism in their country win. It is also our chance to reject those same qualities that have begun to pollute British Jewish life, such as at the ironically named ‘Stop The Hate’ rally.
My friend David was active in the ‘Brothers in Arms’ movement, which fought the judicial coup and then worked ceaselessly to help those affected in the war. He’s now preparing for the political fight ahead. ‘I want to be on the right side of history and be able to say that I fought for Israel’s future,’ he says.
At this time, we must all be brothers – and sisters – in arms, united in the goal to chart a better course for a democratic, tolerant, and just Israel, as well as for the Jewish community here to ensure that it exemplifies the best of who we are.
