100 dark days have passed, 100 days that seem like one long and infinite day. 100 days in which we experienced storylines that even a particularly disturbed fantasy filmmaker would not have been able to write. We were horrified, we cried, we shouted, we prayed, we broke down and we got up.
39th consecutive week: Demonstrations against the reform across the country // Credit: Police Spokesperson's Office, Yoni Rikner, Yaniv Zohar, Zeev Man, Tal Guterman, Niv Gerber, Shai Seltzer
We caressed a child who could ask, because we had trouble finding words to answer his difficulties. We were filled with pride and amazement at the heroism of young and old, men and women, who wanted to save lives under fire, and who risked their lives on the battlefield for us. We shuddered at the wonderful wills that the TikTok generation left to their parents, before storming in and never returning. We were filled with admiration for the founding generation, for the elderly women who returned from captivity with their heads held high, for the kibbutzniks who do not leave the plow.
Collecting food for soldiers and residents of the envelope, photo: Coco
We laughed at comedians with both one egg and two. We woke up in the morning to the anxiety of "allowed to be published." We were amazed by the spirit of volunteerism that swept the home front. We were more careful with words and friction, and demanded that public figures and protest leaders stop bickering. Most of us gave 100 days of grace to the political and military leadership.
Now, after 100 days, we must look ahead and talk about the day after. Not in Gaza. In our home. Because Gaza, whatever solution is not found for it, will succeed in continuing to strike us in the future, only if, God forbid, we strike each other again.
During those 100 days, I covered homes of mourners and families of abductees, hotels of evacuees and homes in Sderot of those who chose not to leave the city even under fire. I visited Bari and also entered the battlefields in Gaza and on the Lebanese border. From everyone I met, civilians, soldiers and especially reservists, the same loud and clear call arose – no to internal wars, not to polarizing discourse, not to brotherly hatred.
Stop the ranting
In the strangest way, online and on screen, there are few people left who have continued to spread hatred and disintegrate us from within. But in the real world, here on earth, and certainly in the one where heroes went to it, brothers in arms who truly gave their lives, only men of peace were discovered.
Even among our representatives in the Knesset in all parties, there remained divisive and agitated. Their voices have been amplified by a media whose hobby is to amplify and inflate, and sometimes to tear out of context extreme statements or slips of the mouth - thus clouding the atmosphere of kindness created here.
The release of the hostages in the third phase (archive), photo: Arab networks
Despair, defeatism, and blaming the other for all our troubles are likely to increase as the days go by. In order for this atmosphere not to disintegrate Israeli society and affect the outcome of the war, the Israeli government must begin to outline how past failures will be investigated, both on the military and political levels, and especially clarify when elections will be held for the Israeli Knesset. It is not good to hold elections under fire, but the war will not receive broad public support if the impression is that the war is continuing in order to delay the elections. Therefore, a date must be set even if it will be in a year.
Seniority does not matter
In any case, before embarking on elections, if they are brought forward, the proposal of Hagai Louvre, who lost his heroic son Jonathan in Gaza, must be adopted. Formulate a social contract that will promote bereaved families from all sectors, which will define the boundaries of discourse. A treaty that will call not for blocking roads, not for confrontations with IDF commanders, not for a price tag, not for refusal, and not for attacking and humiliating elected officials. The charter will have to be signed by anyone who wants to represent this good people in the Knesset.
IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Even among our representatives in the Knesset in all parties, there remained divisive and agitated. Their voices have been amplified by a media whose hobby is to amplify and inflate extreme statements or slips of the mouth – thus clouding the atmosphere of kindness created here
I would also add to this a law that limits the age of candidates for the Knesset. Only those aged 44 and under (I'm already above...) will be elected. The time has come to let young people lead, to bring their spirit of heroism and brotherhood into the Knesset, and to say goodbye to the old politicians who are captives of the concept. Since there is no chance that such a law will pass, it would be better if veteran politicians on the right and left, as well as senior military officers, gave way to the younger generation. Experience and seniority are an important asset, but they didn't help us on 7 October.
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