Israel must oust its failed government before it sinks into the moral abyss

A protester and police at a demonstration in Tel Aviv, May 2024

Ehud Barak writes in Haaretz on 13 June 2024:

Israel is at the height of a developing crisis that is far from being over. It’s the most serious and dangerous crisis in the country’s history. It began on October 7 with the worst failure in Israel’s history. And it continued with a war that, despite the courage and sacrifice of soldiers and officers, appears to be the least successful war in its history, due to the strategic paralysis in the country’s leadership.

We are now facing difficult decisions between terrible alternatives with regard to continuing the fighting in the Gaza Strip, expanding the operation against Hezbollah in the north and risking a multifront war that would include Iran and its proxies. And all this is happening while in the background the judicial coup continues, with its goal of establishing a racist, ultranationalist, messianic and benighted religious dictatorship.

The crisis requires us to mobilize everything that’s strong, good and effective within us to return to the path of growth, empowerment, enlightenment and hope that Israel trod during most of its history. That would be a real victory.

At this point in time, we can’t afford any more mistakes. We need to look directly and courageously at what happened to us and why, and then we need the determination to fix it quickly, despite the opposition that doing so will generate. This will require decisiveness, courage and action – from members of the opposition, from members of the governing coalition with spines and also from us, the entire citizenry.

This is a genuine emergency! The crux of our disaster is that in the midst of a catastrophe, Israel is being led by a government and a prime minister who are patently unfit for their offices.

The people responsible for what happened on October 7 and for running the failed war in Gaza aren’t fit to lead Israel into a new era whose risks will be much greater. A captain who has already sunk two ships, one after the other, cannot be entrusted with the helm of the third and last ship.

We need to immediately replace this failed government by setting an agreed date for elections, or, alternatively, by holding a constructive no-confidence vote. And this must be done during the current Knesset session – that is, in the next five weeks.

If this government of bereavement and failure remains in place, then within months, or even weeks, we’re liable to find ourselves deeply mired in a “unified fronts” – the dream of Qassem Soleimani, slain commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force. We will still be in Gaza, with no clear victory, while also being in an all-out war with Hezbollah in the north, a third intifada in the West Bank, conflicts with the Houthis in Yemen and Iraqi militias in the Golan Heights and, of course, conflict with Iran itself, which has already shown through April’s missile attack that it is willing to act against us directly.

Women protest in Tel Aviv to demand a deal for the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, January 2024

And all this would be happening while Israel is isolated and at odds with the United States, the only country that provides us with arms and effective diplomatic backing. We’re threatened with action from both international courts in The Hague and confronting a group of countries that seek to recognize a Palestinian state even without negotiations with Israel. This combination creates a clear and present danger to the country’s security and its future, on top of the danger to its future as a functioning democracy.

What is needed now is an immediate deal to bring the hostages home, even at the price of committing to end the war; calming the situation in the south; calming the north through a diplomatic agreement, even if only temporary, mediated by Washington; returning the people evacuated from southern and northern Israel to their homes; replenishing our arsenals and letting our troops recover; and restoring the economy to normal operation.

If we succeed in restoring our close relationship with the U.S. administration, this might well enable us to move forward on normalization with Saudi Arabia and to forge an Arab force that would replace the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza and provide backing for the return of civilian control by a Palestinian actor other than Hamas. And all this will have to be accompanied by an effort to block arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court and extricate ourselves from our international isolation.

Or, in other words, we must say “yes, but” to U.S. President Joe Biden and “No,” with a capital N, to far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

And for anyone wondering how we can possibly end the war before achieving “absolute victory,” here is my answer: We’re far from the end in Gaza – at least seven months according to National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, years according to National Unity Party chairman and former war cabinet member Benny Gantz. This isn’t “just a step away.”

By that time, the hostages will be returning in coffins, or else be like Ron Arad, the air force navigator who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982 and whose fate remains unknown. And abandoning them for the second time would destroy the moral foundations of our society and our country.

I’ll just add one more thing: “Absolute victory” was always an empty slogan. And under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failed leadership, we are closer to total failure.

As for the idea of ending the war with international commitments, we have to remember that if Hamas or Hezbollah threatens Israel in another six months, or another year and a half, in a way that requires action, Israel’s sovereign government can decide to take action despite those international commitments. That will be true for any future prime minister, and certainly for Netanyahu, who has violated countless political and international commitments.

Moreover, even people who don’t agree to the format of “yes, but” to Biden must still work to replace this government as soon as possible, to stop our march down the slippery slope into the abyss I’ve described above.

Most of the conditions for successfully preventing this impending disaster already exist – recognition of the magnitude of the failure; public protests; and a growing understanding of the extent of our military, economic, diplomatic and moral failure with regard to the world, our own values, the values of the Declaration of Independence and, most important of all, our soldiers. The country’s leaders, who are moving ahead with a law to enshrine draft-dodging, aren’t worthy of the soldiers’ courage, commitment and sacrifice.

What we lack is an opposition that would spearhead the move and provide legitimacy for it. And that won’t emerge from normal political intrigues.

What we need is an urgent step that would make clear to Israelis that the moment of decision has arrived and to opposition leaders that it is time to act. We need a joint appearance by all the opposition leaders, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman, Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, Gideon Sa’ar and Yair Golan. I would also add former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who will apparently play a key role in Israel’s next chapter.

At this joint appearance, the opposition leaders should say the following: We aren’t a party, a movement or a new bloc. We have disagreements over many issues. But given the severity of the threat embodied by the continued tenure of this government and its prime minister, we are urging the entire public to work together with us to topple the government.

They could call for a nationwide strike that would shut down the country, encompassing the Histadrut labor federation and employers’ organizations, high-tech and academia, local governments, the school system and youth movements. In addition, massive demonstrations should be mounted throughout the country, and the Knesset should be surrounded by 30,000 tents in which protesters would sit 24/7 (in shifts) until the government falls.

They should say, “We, the Knesset members, will be with you – not just Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi, but all of us. We’ll boycott every routine work of the Knesset committees and return only to discuss dissolving the Knesset or a constructive no-confidence motion. We will stand together until victory. Together we will win.”

And to any opposition members who says this is going too far, I would reply, “And how will you achieve the goal without this? And what is going too far? Had you done even a quarter of what Netanyahu would have done had October 7 happened when Bennett or Lapid was prime minister, we’d have had a different government long ago.”

Some people will ask, “Why are we the ones who need to act?” To them, I’d point out that bad things happen when good people do nothing.  Others, in positions of influence, will ask, “Is this really the time to act?” To them, I would quote Dante: “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those, in times of great moral crisis, who maintain their neutrality.”

Failure to remove this government and its leader quickly will endanger Israel’s future and even its continued existence. Now is the time to act. No time will ever be better. We will never forgive ourselves, nor will future generations forgive us, if we walk with eyes wide open, yet, totally blind, toward the moral abyss and the existential threat that lie before us.

The dreamers and fighters of previous generations, like the IDF officers and soldiers of today, expect us to come to our senses and act. It’s in our hands. And we must know how to take action. May it be so.

This article is reproduced in its entirety