The writer is a former member of the Knesset from the Kulanu party who served as the faction’s chairman.
According to a comprehensive survey by Globes newspaper, despair is the greatest danger facing Israeli society. The survey shows that many individuals feel powerless and resort to fighting or cutting off contact with each other.
The survey also reveals that 30% of legal reform opponents have demonstrated at least once, expressing their anxiety through civic involvement. Additionally, over 30% of respondents see refusal as a legitimate act.
However, the most concerning statistic is that 45% of respondents fear a fratricidal war, and almost 15% prefer holding onto their position even at the cost of such a war.
The author believes that the Israeli culture of controversy is breaking down. It used to be that the words of the minority were not silenced, and their voices were always heard, even if their opinions were not accepted on one issue. Today, this culture is eroding.
The author argues that if we conduct politics in a manner where those who lost the election feel their opinions are weightless, it will inevitably lead to societal disintegration both economically and socially.
The author explains that there is a new political culture which encourages the public to label each other as enemy camps. This culture is divisive, and it shuts down meaningful conversations that could lead to constructive compromises.
Despite this culture, the survey shows that 50% of respondents are ready for compromise. The author urges us to log out of Twitter and not agree to brainwashing of hatred, but to rather reach out and find compromises with our opponents.
The author is a former member of the Knesset from the Kulanu party, he served as the faction’s chairman.
The comprehensive survey conducted by the Globes newspaper overwhelms the greatest danger facing Israeli society – despair. A society in which individuals feel that they have no way to influence other than to fight each other or cut off contact with each other.
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The Globes survey shows an amazing figure according to which 30% of the opponents of the legal reform went out to demonstrate at least once. Unprecedented civic involvement, which is a tremendous expression of anxiety among many citizens who feel there is nothing to do but go out into the street. And more than that, over 30% of the respondents see refusal as a legitimate act. A figure that we would not have imagined not long ago.
But the statistic that should keep every citizen of Israel awake is the statistic regarding the fear of a fratricidal war. 45% of respondents fear a fratricidal war, while almost 15% prefer to stick to their position (for or against) even at the cost of a fratricidal war!
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How did we get here?
In our sources it is said “And why do you mention the words of the individual among the majority, since there is no Halacha except the words of the majority? If a court sees the words of the individual – and trusts it…” (Mishna Aedyot 15). Despite the decision of the majority, the words of the minority are not silenced, for the sake of decisions today or in the future.
The Jewish Beit Midrash throughout the generations, and the democratic state afterwards, fostered a culture in which there is no “elimination” of a rival camp. There is room for identity diversity and ideological diversity. The minority knows that it is a minority today in a certain debate, but maybe tomorrow it will be the majority in another controversial issue. There is a deep understanding that the method is good for everyone, sometimes I lose, sometimes I win, but one way or another my voice is always heard and there is a horizon and hope that even if on one issue my opinion is not accepted, on another it will be accepted. Today this culture of controversy is breaking down.
A country in disintegration
The voters of the Netanyahu bloc say, “These are protesters who do not accept the election results, now the right is full, and we will do what we want. Against your nose and your anger!” Is this really how you can manage a dispute? No matter who is in power, the Israeli secret was in understanding that there is no “what I want” just because I am in power, but even when I have the power to subdue – I don’t use it.
Israeli innovation is based on the fact that we do not bow to authority, we are a people who ask questions, a people who express their opinion without considering hierarchies. If we conduct politics in which the party that lost the election feels that their opinion has no weight, that there is no discussion, that there is no consideration for the one who lost, then we will find ourselves in a political world that was common in Arab communities – the clan that won the election dismissed all the PA employees from the other clan, only employed close associates, and those who did not When he was in power, he stopped paying property taxes and taking part in any activity related to the local authority. Is it possible to imagine such a reality at the state level? If the Netanyahu bloc is in power and I’m in the other bloc or vice versa, I don’t go to the reserves, I don’t pay taxes, and I don’t even care about throwing garbage in nature reserves?! This is not my country. This is a country in disintegration, economically and socially, and it will certainly not be the nation of innovation and creativity.
Not to the agents of chaos
This reality develops in a political and public culture that sanctifies war. In the United States it is called a culture war between Democrats and Republicans. And in this war there is only one color of uniform, red or blue team. In recent years, there have been those who have worked to import this culture to Israel, and in Israel we call it “Gosh”. In every block you must embrace the whole ideological package deal. And this culture in the Israeli reality is destructive, because most people have both of these, some of both. The media is full of twitterers, broadcasters and commentators who are constantly hurling terrible hate speech at the enemy in the other camp in order to provoke anger, insult, aggression. The other side is violent and a liar, and the goal is to win, subdue and run over it. But in a political culture where there are only enemy camps, a culture of die or conquer the mountain – compromise is a crime, and how much we need compromise.
Fortunately for us, the Globes survey shows that as individuals we are not there yet. Only 36% of all respondents said they were not ready for a compromise, almost 50% were ready and the rest did not know. The Israeli public (more on the right than on the left according to the survey) is ready for a compromise. So why, despite all the willingness, are there no agreements? Because of a new political culture, backed by a toxic public discourse, which is busy dividing us into camps with an impassable chasm between them. They try to educate us to be angry with each other, only the reality is different. If we take two Israelis, a Likud voter and a Yesh Atid voter, a secular and ultra-orthodox, an aircraft technician and a pilot, on most issues we can create a very large space of conceivable compromises.
What needs to be done in the coming days, weeks, months and years? Do not agree to incitement and agents of chaos. Log out of Twitter. When we read or hear from self-proclaimed public opinion shapers that what they have to sell us is only “us and them”, how anarchist, fascist, or elitist they are, we simply turn off or move a station. We must not agree to the brainwashing of hatred and encampment because the supporter or opponent of the reform is the member of the company, the neighbor on the street, the co-worker or the uncle around the Seder table, and with him we need, want, to reach a compromise.