Corona crisis met our neighbors with health and economic systems already on the verge of collapse • Due to their weakening, Israel must demonstrate social cohesion and stability, ahead of the day after

In times of crisis such as those we are now experiencing, fundamental truths are revealed before us, and those who are willing to look at them and act properly will survive. Whoever does not fall. The first truth that the corona reveals is the limitations of our ability to control many aspects of our world. Within a few months, the virus that broke through in China reached the entire world, and everything we knew as normal life ruled: schools and workplaces closed, and a stable and promising financial situation became a nightmare no one could predict.

Adhere to the concealment policy. Iranian government meeting earlier this month // Photo: IP

The second truth is that the chaos that befalls us is nothing compared to that of our neighbors.

Take Egypt, for example. The economy there has been on the verge of a complete collapse for a decade. The health system collapsed before the outbreak of the Corona virus. For several years, government hospitals have been in dire need of both physicians and basic resources. Egypt's strategy to deal with the Corona is to punish anyone who talks about the size of the virus there. Thus, ten days ago, the authorities deported a Cairo Guardian newspaper article after publishing a study that estimated that the number of people infected was not about 260, as the authorities claim, but more than 19,000.

And north of us - Lebanon. The Corona virus found the country of the Cedars in insolvency after the government decided not to pay $ 2.5 billion in debt to European banks last month. While the Corona virus has evacuated the thousands of protesters from the streets to the homes, it has also wiped out what remains of Lebanon's national identity. Now that the health system - controlled by Hezbollah - is mainly concerned with Shiites, all other groups - the Sunnis, Maronites, Druze - care for themselves, or at least make such voices.

Hezbollah, which apparently brought the virus to the country through its people returning from Iran and Syria, is working to bring down the blame for the crisis on Christians.

Jordan, for its part, is in a constant state of emergency. The royal family lives on the mercy of Israel and the United States. Syria ceased to act as a country years ago and so does Iraq. The corona suffocates the few resources anyway the authorities have in each. And above all, Iran is the worst hit by the corona crisis. Like Egypt and Lebanon, the crisis has found it Oil prices falling below $ 30 a barrel, along with the US sanctions, dropped the economy to a low, which, coupled with a persistent refusal, which continues today, to prevent mosquitoes and sanctuaries from gathering, has led to a steady rise in the number of patients and contractors. While the official figures speak of 3,036 dead and 47,593 infected in Iran, the figures are insignificant Official ranging from 70 thousand to 2 million infected in Iran and 15 thousand dead.

It is hard to see how Iran and the rest of the region will look after the Corona crisis. But you have to bet that they will not be more stable than they were when it all started.

The simple truth

And that brings us back to Israel. The Corona crisis has shown that we must not allow alienation between parts of society to bring about its unfolding. Social cohesion is a prerequisite for dealing with unexpected crises. Second, we must act within the small arena in which we do set matters to increase stability and certainty.

A week ago, Israel was on the cusp of unprecedented controversy and social primacy. The readiness of the three former chiefs of staff to co-operate with a party that denies and acts to abolish Israel's right to exist is a question mark over the future of the Jewish state.

Probably the public outcry that grew stronger as the meaning of the 61 group of Benny Gantz's recommendation brought him and his partner Gabi Ashkenazi to the real simple about how they went. Now, we have come to the second truth that we must deal with at this time: increasing stability where we are able to step up.

Set clear boundaries

The strategic reality of the uncertainty regarding the future of our neighbors requires Israel to set, set and thwart our borders and clarify our intentions. Faced with Egypt, Lebanon (and thanks to the recognition of US sovereignty over the Golan Heights) and Syria, the situation is unequivocal: We have a borderline and everyone knows where it is going, and everyone who wants quietly from us - respects the line.

Not so on the eastern border and not so with regard to the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria. In order to remain in conflict with Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Israel must make it clear that the Jordan Valley is its eastern boundary by applying Israeli law to the entire Jordan Valley. Israel must also back up the determination with the thickening of the valley - both settlement, infrastructure and transport.

Anyone who says that Israel must first get Jordan's consent before applying its sovereignty over the Jordan Valley does not understand the situation in the Hashemite kingdom and does not understand how Israeli hesitancy on such a major issue works to our detriment. Literally, Israeli hesitancy empowers the most extreme cross-border elements.

The same is true of the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. This week, Health Ministry officials said that Israel should "annex Judea and Samaria healthily" because, from the point of view of public health, Israel and Judea and Samaria are one arena. The Palestinians, for their part, already see authority in Israel in terms of outlining ways to treat the virus. The Palestinians' desire to cooperate with Israel in the virus scene is a function of the stability and security that Israel provides. Had the Ministry of Health and all our systems transmitted uncertainty and instability to the threat of the Corona, the Palestinians would have shunned us and further increased their uncertainty and instability in their treatment of the virus.

The Corona challenge is parallel to Israel's security and national challenge in Judea and Samaria. The boundary between allowed and prohibited will be clearer, and more respectable.

When Gantz and his partners strive against applying Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and settling in the Judea and Samaria area, they may think they serve the interests of the peace camp. But they miss the reality of the uncertainty we face.

The Corona virus and the failure of the societies and regimes around us indicate that the main gospel of the 21st century is instability and uncertainty. In such a reality, Gantz and Ashkenazi's desire to veto neighbors who collapse on one side and depend on us on the other, does not promote peace, it distances it and promotes war. In this situation, Israeli sovereignty is both an order of the hour and a way to bring peace.