One of the gravest mistakes that Yitzhak Rabin made in his last year - and even his circle of fans admits it today - was to run over the opponents of his path and belittle them.
Rabin, of course, was in no way guilty or responsible for his murder.
But instead of allaying the fears of his opponents about the Oslo Accords, Rabin announced that he was "prime minister of 98 percent of the people", that is, not of the settlers.
"Proplovers", was the nickname he stuck to the settlers of the Golan.
These statements poured fuel on the fire that was then burning in the streets.
But the political and personal mindset prevented the late prime minister from pressing the brakes.
He thought - as happens to almost every person in a conflict - that any kind of compromise, moderation or slowing down would be interpreted by his opponents as weakness.
The bitter end is known, and now this end may await the State of Israel in its 75th year, unless the current government immediately takes urgent containment measures.
The late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, photo: Meir Partosh
This time it probably won't end in murder.
But the shocks to the economy, the military, social cohesion and the functioning of the state institutions are already large enough to cause Netanyahu, Levin, Smotrich and the chairman of the Constitution Committee Simcha Rothman to recalculate a course.
Old age is not anarchist
Sometimes in life, certainly the political life, it is not enough to be right, but it is necessary to be wise.
And the crisis that the State of Israel is walking into with open eyes is not wise, by all accounts.
It is important to emphasize that justice is not on the side of the opponents of the reform.
vice versa.
There is no danger to Israeli democracy, and the talk of a "dictatorship" or the loss of legal independence is nonsense and ill will.
Moreover, the reform is essential - there is a national consensus on it.
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But the way in which the government is leading the moves, especially in terms of the information and visibility of the process, has failed.
This is a fact.
Indeed, the left media is mobilized.
Indeed, propaganda and populism dominate the discourse.
Indeed, the general public bought the lies sold to it by the opponents of the reform.
But that's exactly the problem.
The general public.
Those who complained about Sarah Netanyahu's hair salon are not Balfour and Crimean Minister protesters, but the parents of fourth grade children in some city school in Tel Aviv.
Those who sell shekels to buy dollars are not the anarchists, but the old woman in the nursing home.
Those who are debating whether or not to withdraw from the reserves are not "opponents of Akhibush", but good scores, some of them leftists, who gave their best years to the country.
Indeed, they were lied to.
But at the point where we are, the lie is simplified to the point that its damage may be irreversible.
Levin and Rothman explained and mediated the moves as best they could.
It is impossible to say that they succeeded: their intention is desirable, their explanation is a failure.
This is a true alarm
Many in the coalition know this.
But just like Rabin in his time, they fear that any concession, gesture or compromise will be interpreted as weakness, and in politics "weakness" is absolutely forbidden.
Well, where we are, a compromise is a double win: once because it would include reining in the court—a goal many have longed for for decades, and a second time because it would save this nation from system collapse.
Demonstrators against the legal reform, photo: Yoni Rikner
True, the networks will scream and the activists will be angry for a few days.
They will pass.
National responsibility obliges those holding the wheel of power to protect the national house.
This is not an exaggeration or false fears, but a true alarm.
The decision makers know that the writer of these lines believes as much as they do in curbing legal activism.
I was a young reporter when I told Aharon Barak, two decades ago, that his way was unacceptable to the majority of the public and would result in the loss of legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
Now the little me says to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and all their colleagues: the time has come for a compromise.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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