My Word: Israel faces social cohesion along with political divides

An Israeli flag [Ilustrative]

There is not enough room on the military-style dog tag for all the names. With some 120 people still being held by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, of whom around 80 are believed to still be alive, the list is painfully long.

Many friends and colleagues wear a symbolic silver-colored dog tag with the message “Bring them home now!” along with the yellow ribbon pin that has become the symbol of the campaign for the release of the hostages.

Recently, I was given a different dog tag. It’s the same cause, but a different message. Instead of “Bring them home now!” – placing the onus on the Israeli government – one side reads, in English and Hebrew, “Shlach et ami!”, Let my People Go!”

The other side is engraved with the words: “With God’s help, together we will win” and “Am Yisrael Chai,” “The People of Israel Lives!”

I wear the identity tag with pride. The message of unity is an important element in winning the war against the jihadi terrorists (and their Iranian sponsor) whose openly declared aim is to eliminate the State of Israel. Bringing the hostages home requires protecting that home and working together.

There are, of course, different opinions on how to achieve the release of the hostages – this is the Jewish state, after all, there are different opinions on everything. But the idea of attaining their freedom is not under dispute. It’s not a matter of price, it’s a matter of risk – how to ensure the terms of their release do not endanger even more Israelis in the future.

Israelis gather in Tel Aviv for the release of Gaza hostages on November 25, 2023 (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Israelis gather in Tel Aviv for the release of Gaza hostages on November 25, 2023 (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

The disagreements create concerns that the country will return to October 6 – the unprecedented divisions sparked by the government’s judicial reform program and by the response to it. Any serious study of how the October 7 mega-atrocity took place will need to examine the action (or inaction) of the IDF before and on the fateful day; the governments over the past decade; and the judicial system.

It must also consider the role of those who called for a refusal to turn up for reserve duty – particularly among the elite units including pilots and Military Intelligence’s famed Unit 8200; those who called for hi-tech leaders to move their companies and assets abroad; and the organizers of increasingly anarchistic protests where calls for civil war were heard.

EARLIER THIS month, Dr. Itay Gal, a physician and medical journalist, wrote that thousands of doctors had signed a letter predicting mass emigration by their peers if legislation enabling haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) to avoid the draft were to pass.

The letter warned of the long-term harm to healthcare in Israel and added: “This is a ‘quiet’ phenomenon but is felt strongly in the corridors of the healthcare system and outside of it – in business, tech, and academia. There is a real danger that those who stay in Israel will be less educated and less productive, and the subsequent downward spiral will encourage the working and educated public to emigrate until the state is drained of the human resources necessary for its continued existence.”

While I can sympathize with the doctors – and any other reservists – who feel they are carrying the bulk of the burden of service (and taxes), it was noteworthy that there was no plea for military or civilian national service for all – including Arab citizens, the majority of whom, like the majority of haredim, do not serve in the IDF. And you can’t prove your patriotism by constantly threatening to leave.

There are, of course, ultra-Orthodox and Israeli Arabs in the military, and there are families in both communities who know the pain of the ultimate sacrifice.

This week, the IDF announced that Warrant Officer Mohammed el-Atrash, a father of 13, had been killed on October 7 and his body is being held in Gaza. Atrash, a Bedouin tracker, previously had been counted among the live captives.

A heartbreaking video released this week– gleefully filmed in real-time by Hamas terrorists – shows the abduction of four Israelis from the Supernova music festival. The families of three of the hostages – Hersh Goldberg-Polin; Eliya Cohen, 26; and Or Levy; 33 – gave permission for the footage to be shown in the hope that it would raise more local and international awareness.

It was difficult to watch a Hamas monster calling the captives “dogs” and pulling Hersh by the hair, as he sat bloodied and shocked in the back of a truck, his arm blown off in the attack.

The images were as disturbing as those of the female IDF spotters being abducted from their base in footage released last month. Last weekend, Na’ama Levy, one of those soldiers – the one with the blood-soaked pants – turned 20 in captivity. What unfathomable pain is contained in the last public images of her teen years.

Nearly nine months after the mega-atrocity in which some 1,200 were slaughtered by the terrorist invaders and 250 taken captive, the majority of the captives who are still alive have spent a birthday in Gaza. Kfir Bibas has now spent as much time in captivity as he enjoyed as a happy baby at home on Kibbutz Nir Oz.

THE CAMPAIGN for the release of the hostages must focus on the international community. It is Hamas and the Islamic Jihad who are holding them captive, not the Israeli government. The role of the UN, and especially its UNRWA facilities and staffers in Gaza, shows the absolute failure of the international body meant to be dedicated to peace.

The International Red Cross Committee has insisted on increasing amounts of aid being delivered to Gaza but failed to enable even small amounts of life-saving medication to reach the hostages. The hostages, incidentally, include citizens of a range of countries, including the US, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, and Nepal. Their fate should be of international concern.

The simultaneous attacks on synagogues and churches by Islamists in Dagestan this week, causing the deaths of many Muslim police officers, should be another wake-up call – no one is safe from global jihad.

Around the world, there has been an increase in antisemitic attacks and rallies supporting the terrorists’ cause. Israel has seen a resurgence in protests and calls for “days of disruption,” which are likely to increase over the haredi draft issue.

Nonetheless, as my colleague Herb Keinon wrote this week, “Israelis are not divided about the nature of this war... What they are divided about is who should lead it, under what terms should it be temporarily halted, what its next stage should be, and what price should be paid for the releases of the hostages.”

Similarly, Keinon pointed out, if the goal is to bring out the masses to push for new elections and a change of leadership, the organizers should not have “personalities such as former prime minister Ehud Barak, former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Yuval Diskin, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, or author David Grossman as cheerleaders.” I add Shikma Bressler, a particularly strident and divisive protest leader, to that list.

It is essential that the issue of the hostages not be played for political gain. Rallies in support of the hostages and their families must not turn into essentially political events, as is frequently happening.

It’s not by chance that the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran encourage the protests. In footage of the hostages released by Hamas, the captives have been forced to call for more demonstrations. Iran has used social media bots to deliberately spread incitement and foment unrest.

Returning to the divisions of October 6 can only lead to disaster. Our enemies were surprised by the way the country pulled together after October 7. The spirit of volunteerism – among all sectors of society – was high and powerful. That’s what they want to destroy as a way of bringing the state down.

Each one of us can control how we choose to respond – the words we use, the way we act, and our vote in democratic elections. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum must speak for every captive and to every citizen.

The media must be reminded that fighting the very real war on multiple fronts is more important than fanning flames of hatred in a ratings war.

“Together we will prevail,” is more than a slogan. The yellow ribbons must remind us of the strong ties that bind us.