President Isaac Herzog called for Israelis to work toward greater mutual respect in order to heal fractures in society at his “Time to Talk” conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

“Enough! We are sick of the hatred, the division, the labeling, the curses, the violence and the shaming,” he declared at the President’s Conference for a Shared Israeli Future at the International Convention Center. “This event came to provide a response to the greatest disease of Israeli society and its greatest danger: division.”

The conference brought together nonprofits, activists and even Israeli actress Gal Gadot to support Herzog’s initiative, which seeks to bridge divisions in Israeli society through dialogue and community engagement.

“This is not just a conference,” Herzog told attendees. “A movement has arisen here that says yes to mutual recognition, yes to dialogue, yes to listening, and yes to the desire to build a shared Israeli tomorrow.”

The gathering was held as Israel faces deep political and social polarization, compounded by the ongoing effects of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the ensuing war. Herzog warned that “division” had become the country’s greatest internal threat, citing a recent study by the Agam Institute at Tel Aviv University that measured Israel’s degree of polarization at 8.3 out of 10, indicating a “very advanced stage” of national risk.

Herzog said the initiative aims to counter what he described as “fuel........

© The Times of Israel