On October 7, the world turned upside down on every Israeli, but October 8 is also a defining date. Out of shock, we took responsibility.
Hundreds of thousands of young reservists filled the transportation stations and conference areas. Some returned from travels in South America, others were torn from a newly formed family unit, with a new baby or a newly married woman. The young people, who built businesses here with both hands, said goodbye to their businesses one morning, put everything behind them and went out to defend their homes.
Those who did not enlist in the reserves enlisted on the civilian front. While the government has not been able to function, the country's public relations system will be operated civilly by young people who have established huge public relations bodies and systems that are hard to imagine and worked in it full-time. The civilian operations rooms were flooded with thousands of worried young people who went out for manual labor. An entire generation was spoiled, and we, the young people, set out to fix it without looking back.
Now, three months later, we discover that we have returned to managerial chaos, and there is no one to help back. Reservists have to beg for an exemption from municipal taxes for a period when they were not at home at all but went out to fight. The women of the reservists, who became single mothers in one day, did not receive Tzaharon subsidies, a listening ear or psychological assistance. The household has been torn in two, but it's not an issue for the municipalities and local government. Not to mention the business owners, who are forced to receive assistance from the masses of caring citizens of Israel, who go out and shop at their businesses because the government does not bother to help.
This war has taught us many lessons, one of which is that if we, the young people who go out to fight for the country, want to improve it and want it to know how to reward – we don't have many options – we must take responsibility ourselves and sit around the decision-making table
We heard a lot of stories and witnessed an entire PR campaign about the wonderful performance of the mayors during the war, but the truth is that when it comes to real assistance to residents and fighters, it doesn't exist. The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, the richest municipality in Israel, opened its pocket and heart and invested NIS 50 million in absorbing evacuees from the envelope. We are very proud of this and do not propose to offset, but if the municipality were to compare and invest the same amount in municipal tax exemption for reservists who are residents of the city, or in providing after-school assistance to reserve families, city residents would also be able to benefit from the tax money they pay.
The root of the problem lies in representation. In almost all the authorities in Israel, there is not a single person at the decision-making table who is forced to immediately go on reserve duty, not a single woman whose husband went on reserve duty and who was left with a baby at home. The same thing is happening around the cabinet table, where decision-makers and senior ministers are completely unfamiliar with these troubles. This war has taught us many lessons, one of which is that if we, the young people who go out to fight for the country, want to improve it and want it to know how to reward – we don't have many options – we must take responsibility ourselves and sit around the decision-making table. Until then, they will continue to ignore us.
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