Public responsibility is not a managerial skill, nor is it a derivative of formal authority. It is not acquired through an appointment or an election, nor is it the product of a public committee’s findings – and it certainly does not emerge from hollow media declarations. Public responsibility is, first and foremost, a moral stance; it is the fundamental recognition that the decisions and failures of those in power carry a price in human life.

The events of October 7th exposed a traumatic truth: this was not merely a security failure or an intelligence lapse, but primarily the collapse of ‘public responsibility’ as an organizing principle of Israeli politics. Throughout Benjamin Netanyahu’s years in power, the concept of responsibility was stretched with the agility of a contortionist. Failure was attributed to forgetfulness, lack of knowledge, or – most frequently – to someone else. Conversely, success was always tied directly to the leader’s actions, credited to his ‘guidance and directives’. The result of this political subculture was not only the fortification of a corrupt and failing leadership, but the distortion of Israeli society itself, which, in the process, lost its moral compass.

The persistent and pathetic attempt to evade all responsibility and cast blame elsewhere reflects a chilling reality: the government, and especially the man at its head, does not........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)