91 Days to Elections:  Choosing a Covenantal Society  

Now three months away from election day here in Israel, we, as a community, need to think seriously about what we want our leadership to represent and how we want our government to function.   Giving thought to these questions now may help us decide who is best qualified to lead and what the mandate of leadership should be.  It is a thought process that over the years of declining democracy worldwide, too many people have simply abandoned that assessment process to the detriment of all.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory, whom many of us consider to have been the voice of morality of our generation, viewed political leadership not as the quest for power it seems to have become, but as a moral responsibility centered on service, covenant, and the creation of hope. He argued that true leadership empowers others rather than controls them.

 True leaders serve the people they lead. Sacks contrasted hierarchical, pyramid-like power structures with service-oriented leadership that lifts others up. Towards that end he pointed out that a great leader encourages leadership in others.  As an example, Moses himself modeled this by involving the entire community in building a shared vision, shifting people from argument as a first response to informed cooperation.

In addition, leadership requires offering a compelling, shared vision of the future that inspires trust and overcomes despair.

Sadly, in today’s world it is a real challenge to identify anyone who embodies the qualities Rav Sacks described.  For sure, there are autocratic leaders who have a vision but, sadly, don’t see themselves as serving anyone but themselves.   In other cases, there are democratic leaders who, rather than encourage leadership in others, do all they can to undercut those who have leadership potential.  And as for morality, that ceased to be a requirement of leadership some years ago as well.

Add to these challenges the decline of societal norms, which has exacerbated the negative aspects of sub-standard leadership.  We see that the age-old conflict between truth and power has returned anew, replaced by the noise of social media.  The resultant erosion of mutual trust resulting from the undermining of truth by power simply adds fuel to the fire.

In addition, the rampant intolerance for opposing points of view, and an almost complete breakdown in civil discourse, destroy the very foundations of government by consent.  Even the universities, which were always seen as a safe space for ideological cross-fertilization, now seem to be intent on morally bankrupting their students.

How then do we emerge from this virtual swamp and reclaim our lost values?  In the years before his untimely passing, Rabbi Sacks suggested that the most productive pathway out of the morass is to pursue “covenantal politics.”

He opined that cultures governed by self-interest, as so many are today, tend to be contractual.  Getting to a “we-centered” culture requires a revision of identity, and for this, Sacks maintains, the paradigm of covenant may well be crucial.  According to Sacks, “A contract is a transaction. A covenant is a relationship. A contract is about interests. A covenant is about identity. That’s why contracts benefit, but covenants transform. A covenant creates a moral community”

Israel, in its early days, was centered more around a covenantal community given its development as a socialist society.  The kibbutz was certainly a prime example, while the entire population received many of the benefits inherent in the kibbutz social structure even though the country was struggling economically.

To the credit of the Israeli leadership at the time, the Economic Stabilization Plan that went into effect on July 1, 1985, moved the country to a capitalist framework but kept the best parts of socialism.  People can discuss why that happened the way it did, but an argument can be made that it came about because at its core, Israel was and remains a covenantal society which dates back to the biblical roots of our people.

With the passage of time, Israel’s significant integration into the world economy, our population growth and economic progress made it possible for us to also pick up some of the bad habits of the countries whose culture we wanted to emulate.  As I often said to people who voiced a desire at the time for us to be like America, if you buy the culture of America or Europe or anywhere else, you can’t pick and choose….you get it all, the good with the not so good.

These covenantal values are what we will need to demand from those who choose to lead us in the future if we are to change direction and continue to grow after these past tumultuous years in Israeli, regional and world history.   I do believe that among those here in Israel who are vying for our votes, Gadi Eisenkot has the record and the experience that best positions him to rebuild a covenantal society.  For sure there is no one person who will embody all of the characteristics described here.   Yet, to this writer, he seems best suited to be given the opportunity to do so.

For example, Avi Abelow, the founder of the Israel Video Network, posted a video on line yesterday specifically to demonstrate that Gadi Eisenkot is not suited to be Prime Minister of Israel.  Among Avi’s many, in my opinion biased criticisms, was that in 2024 Eisenkot resigned from the government “in the middle of a war,” which Abelow saw as Eisenkot “abandoning the ship,” as it were, during the conflict.

However, the fact is that Eisenkot, a man of principle, disagreed with the strategy of the government at that time to continue the war and, not wanting to be complicit in supporting a decision that went against his conscience, he did the responsible thing and left the government.   There are, of course, always two or more ways of looking at any situation.  Nevertheless, I saw this as confirming that Eisenkot is a man of principle willing to walk away from a cabinet position rather than be seen as a supporter. In my eyes this is a strength that we should value.

Israel is at a crossroads with an array of challenges that we will need to address over the coming years.  To do so, we need leadership that understands the meaning of covenant and how that translates to define the relationship between those of us who live here and the government in charge of the country.  It is incumbent upon us to make the right choices and do so after intelligent evaluation.  Let us hope we are up to the task.

 Carthago substituenda est!