Desperate citizens need a government that will contain and persuade them. A desperate government is already a strategic threat. The current Israeli government has given up on the ability to change here for the better. Anyone who listened to government ministers this week after the attack on Ali and the loss of the northern Golan Heights for a few hours by Druze rioters heard excuses and despair.
The hard truth is that the current government believes that failure is doomed. When they say "we will restore law and order," they mean that there is no law and order and there will never be. And when we talk about "solutions to terrorism," we mean that nothing will happen to defeat terrorism. The same goes for rioters or even the thought of fixing governmental systems.
It was one of the toughest weeks from a security standpoint. Still, any claim that terrorism cannot be defeated is a complete lie. Countries around the world suppressed terrorist organizations, the State of Israel suppressed the Al-Aqsa Intifada when it seemed impossible to defeat the waves of suicide bombers. The thing is, in order to decide, you need decisions and a process. There is no other magic, and this government is incapable. When Itamar Ben-Gvir stands a few minutes after a terrible attack, in which four Jews were murdered (one of them the son of an acquaintance of mine), and says that buildings should be taken down, he is lying, and with him lies an entire government that nods cowardly.
Druze demonstration this week in the Golan. Ministers have only excuses, Photo: Eyal Margolin/Ginny
Suppose there are such buildings, the moment Ben-Gvir announces that he is resigning from the government if they do not go to bomb buildings, it will obligate the government. But his "take down buildings" is air. He can't, doesn't understand, doesn't want to.
Terrorism did not begin during the six months of this government, nor in the two previous governments of which I was a part. Palestinian incitement is the only cause of the conflict that is more than a century old. There is generation after generation of Arabs who are willing to die to murder Jews. Those who do not recognize the problem will never face the difficulty of solving. This is our reality. The only thing that changes from period to period is leadership. The role of government is to create security. This government is creating panic. That's where it starts and that's where it ends.
"The floor is crooked"
Over the years, the State of Israel has known how to create deterrence and exact a heavy price from the Palestinians. From demolishing houses (in my view, a vital step) to expelling terror supporters, as Rabin did. In human history, there have been cognitive measures against Muslim terrorists, such as burying them in pigskin and using female fighters. Some are very helpful, but the tactic of charging the price is less important. The important insight: It is impossible to defeat terrorism without damaging the center of mass, infrastructure.
Druze throw Molotov cocktails and stones during a protest in the Golan // Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office
This is what happened during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, when arrests and targeted killings were carried out every night. When protective measures and obstructions were built. An arduous process that takes years. I'm in favor of the decision to build in the community of 'Ali, but it's not a security policy. Government supporters are still in the stage of denial or repression. Provide excuses why the floor is crooked. Orit Strzok blamed what happened a year ago. When she wasn't singing.
A government that runs away from gospel or responsibility is a government that will never decide. That's why Hezbollah is setting up a stand against our noses in Israeli territory, and the pro-Syrian Druze from the Golan Heights are rioting against a legal economic process.
This government will ultimately fall, not because of the courage of its members, but because of the dictates of reality. That's not how you run a country. The day after there must be a unity government capable of conducting long-term processes with a Zionist outlook. What we see now is the Diaspora.
Levine's hubris
The only reason the Bar Association elections didn't make the announcements was the deadly attack. For a week, the ministers, the Knesset Speaker and journalists gathered on voting for a professional committee. Not on security, the cost of living or the core issues. It was as if the program "Polyshock" had been resurrected.
Neve. The program failed,
The government gambled on a convicted and uninhibited felon who had nothing to do with a national ideology but only with a national combinal. Why choose it? Like this. Because he will help choose judges. A distorted premise that gives up an entire world of values. As if religious or right-wing lawyers, who represent the law in the country, have no worldview, only an interest called Efi Naveh.
The government gambled on a convicted and uninhibited criminal who had nothing to do with a national ideology but only with a national combine. Why choose it? Like this. Because he will help choose judges. As if right-wing lawyers don't have a worldview
And here's the biggest damage Levin has done here in recent months: to take a broad public consensus on the need for changes in the justice system and turn it into a superficial and hopeless discussion. The business has been rotten for years: the Bar Association and its combines should not be part of the judicial selection process. Thus, the roles of Chief Prosecutor and Attorney General should also be separated. There is a long list of changes that we must make.
But somehow, with great skill and hubris, Levine turned these issues into an argument about Bibi and failed. For six months the government talks about reform and does nothing. Zero results. The finger in the eye of the political opponent they were looking for so much caught the eye of its owner. They won't pass anything, the reform is dead and with it there is economic damage. It will take a long time to reform the judicial system, to make sure that No. 2 Efi Naveh does not determine who will be appointed as judges. It will take a long time to remove baseless hatred from our public system.
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