From despair and destruction to hope and renewal |
He who saves a single life is as if he saved the whole world. From the Talmud and the Koran
He who saves a single life is as if he saved the whole world. From the Talmud and the Koran
In newspapers in Israel last week, I saw the following headlines:
“IDF strikes kill 24 after soldier shot in Gaza”
“High Court to PM: Explain why Ben Gvir shouldn’t be dismissed”
“Settlers rampaged in 2 West Bank villages while soldiers looked on”
“Two Men Shot Dead in East Jerusalem Refugee Camp as Killings Surge in Arab Community”
This is our daily reality in Israel these days under Bibi’s government of death, destruction and despair. Many of these headlines, or variations on these themes, appear in our media almost every day.
I want to offer some comments on the critical crises in which Israel finds itself these days.
First, the war in Gaza apparently is not over, even though all the hostages have been brought home, some alive and some dead. Many of us naively thought that this would be the end of the war, but we were wrong. The IDF is breaking the so-called “cease-fire” very often, and still killing lots of Palestinian civilians frequently, even though they tell us that they are always attacking militants and doing the best they can to avoid collateral damage. Over 500 Palestinians have been killed since the cease-fire began in October 2025. Hamas also violates the “cease-fire” regularly.
Not only this, but many people in the government don’t want this war to end until “total victory” is achieved, i.e., until Hamas (and probably Iran and Hezbollah too!!) are completely destroyed. They are rooting every day for the Israeli and American air forces to attack Iran and wipe out their leadership. Furthermore, some of the most fanatic right-wing members of the government say openly that Israel must stay in Gaza forever, like in the West Bank, and they do not accept Trump’s peace plans (they even criticize the PM for going along with the President!).
The High Court of Israel thinks that Bibi should dismiss Ben Gvir as minister of Internal Security (Police and Prisons). He is guilty of conflict of interests and he has systematically undermined the police’s independence and turned the institution from a law enforcement agency into a political police force. But everyone knows that Bibi won’t do it! Bibi brought Ben Gvir into the government to keep himself in power and will do everything he can to stay in power, including keeping Ben Gvir in this government, despite what the Supreme Court says. Moreover, Bibi does not respect the Israeli judicial system any more. He has been railing against the system for years and calls his corruption trial a “witch hunt”. (Does that sound familiar to Americans?). He has used Ben Gvir—and Smotrich and members of the Likud– to help him dismantle democracy in Israel and by now, he and Ben Gvir are completely in sync on almost everything. He will wiggle out of this High Court decision, like he does with others, or just ignore it. Laws and justice are old-fashioned concepts, to which he is no longer committed (like his friend in Washington DC with whom he visited again last week and with whom he will apparently visit again this week!) Any normal Prime Minister in any normal country would have fired Ben Gvir long ago!
The settlers are rampaging in the West Bank every day and every night. This is a total disgrace, to which Bibi, Ben Gvir and the rest of them are totally complicit. They allow it to go on by not enforcing the law or indicting any of the violent settlers who do this all the time, or by simply denying their existence. It is their policy to allow them to run free, as announced by Defense Minister Katz, when he took office. He said that Jewish terrorists would not be arrested, only Palestinian ones. Smotrich, who is minister of the West Bank Annexation program (or maybe “pogrom”!) loves it. It serves his purpose. All 14 members of the two extreme right-wing political parties–“Religious Zionism” (Irreligious Anarchism) and “Jewish Power” (actually, Jewish Racism)– support these policies openly and all of the members of the governing coalition support them implicitly. These daily and nightly pogroms are a disgrace to Judaism, the Jewish People, and the State of Israel. The fact that many so-called “religious” people go along with them, and do not denounce them, is nothing short of blasphemous. Where are the moral leaders of the state of Israel and the Diaspora? How do they let this go on?
The daily gangland murders by well-organized Israeli Arab mafia-style groups in the Arab sector in Israel during the first 5 weeks of this year are the highest in Israeli history. During the first 43 days of 2026, 43 Arab Israeli citizens have been murdered. The killers are never arrested or punished. The Israeli police are not doing their job in this matter. I wonder why. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the most extreme racist in the government, Mr. Ben Gvir, is the minister of the non-police?
This is becoming a major issue in Israeli society. On Saturday ten days ago , 70-80,000 Israeli Jews and Arabs marched together in a big demonstration against the failures of the government in this area. It is abundantly clear by now that the police under Ben Gvir do not really want to tackle this problem, any more than they want to bring the daily pogroms against innocent Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to justice. They seem to have forgotten the biblical injunction of Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof, “Justice, Justice you shall pursue” completely!
All of these phenomena take place under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is without doubt the worst prime minister in the history of Israel. He has been in the job for 19 years already, and like Putin and Trump, he gets worse every day, more dangerous and irresponsible, more narcissistic and self-serving.
This is why it essential for the future of Israel, for this government to be replaced by a sane and responsible one in the upcoming elections! This government of death, destruction and despair must end soon, the sooner the better. They offer no hope for the citizens of Israel; only more war and more internal violence and strife.
We simply can’t go on like this. We need a new government, one that will give us hope and renew our belief in what we are doing here. Without the ultra-orthodox and without the fanatic “religious” parties, but with the Arab political parties, since the Arabs are citizens of the state of Israel. This is essential for our common future and for the future of the region.
To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope. Every ritual, every command, every syllable of the Jewish story is a protest against escapism, resignation and the blind acceptance of fate. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory.)
To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope. Every ritual, every command, every syllable of the Jewish story is a protest against escapism, resignation and the blind acceptance of fate. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory.)