Unity after Oct. 7 reverts to internal Israeli strife
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been askew, off course. How could the country — its vaunted Israel Defense Forces — be taken so unawares? How could the largest-ever massacre of Jews since the Holocaust take place under its watch? The Jewish homeland was established to create a haven for Jews, where Jews would be safe from the kind of persecution that plagued them in Europe, Asia, the Middle East.
Israel had never been a country driven by consensus, but it was a truism that the Am, the nation, would take precedence.
In the year prior to Oct. 7, Israel’s fabric was unravelling. We do not seek to get into the debate on judicial reform, but a fierce anti-judicial reform faction butting heads with a pro-judicial reform government was creating deep discord in Israeli society, the kind that spells danger.
We have no doubt that Israel’s enemies took note. It was impossible not to. Riven by internal factions, Israel became a prime target.
Since Oct. 7, somewhat paradoxically, Israel’s different communities and the Jewish Diaspora have coalesced in way never before seen. Divisions, whether among ethnicity or religion, started to matter less.
Today, however, we look to Israel and we fear those internal factions once again trumping the Am, the people.
We see leaders, on both the right and left, seemingly more concerned with politics than with people.
Israel’s leaders — like America’s, like Serbia’s (see page 4) — must remember that their role is to serve their citizens, not themselves.
For the sake of argument, let us say that Netanyahu is correct that the ousted Shin Bet advisor Ronen Bar was no longer trustworthy. Is it nevertheless wise to fire him knowing such a move would trigger conflict? Is it wise to fire Bar thereby providing a platform for an opposition leader to attack the government, creating a public fracas that signals Israel’s weakness? Is it wise to trigger a strong protest movement mere days after reengagement against Hamas? When soldiers are being asked to sacrifice their lives? When hostage families know their loved ones are still living, imprisoned in tunnels in Gaza?
At such a time, there should be only one overwhelming concern — the Am, the nation. Israel the nation-state and Am Yisrael, the Jewish people.
That Israel’s political leaders are returning to such politics only a year-and-a-half after Israel and the Jewish people suffered untold devastation is deeply disturbing. Israel and the Jewish people know the cost of such an approach, of allowing or sowing internal divisions. It is not a cost that Israel can afford to pay.
Last week, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said:“It is inconceivable to send our sons to the front while at the same time pursuing controversial moves that deepen division within the people.”
It is rare for Herzog, occupying a non-political role, to speak like this.
“Every step [should] be carefully considered and examined to see whether it contributes to national resilience, and especially whether it contributes to the war effort and the return of the hostages,” he said.
The government must heed Herzog’s warning. Israel’s enemies are watching.
© IJN 2025
