A Delayed Election Day: Not Necessarily Bad News

Gideon Sa’ar’s fall into Netanyahu’s arms has cast a dark pall over the camp eager for early elections. Toppling the government responsible for the greatest disaster to hit the Jewish people since the Holocaust now seems more remote than ever. However, the time Netanyahu has bought to secure his continued rule is also the time when the opposition can recover from its own failures. This additional time could prove decisive if used for deep reflection and for making the necessary course corrections in light of ignominious failure of the opposition leaders to topple Netanyahu’s government.

The next round of elections will be critical for Israel’s future. If they produce a coalition similar to the current one, many Israelis will lose all hope of halting the trends that make their lives in this country untenable. Netanyahu fuels these trends, but their existence is not dependent on him, and they will continue to challenge Israeli democracy even after he leaves office. The “natural” coalition – right-wing populists, right-wing extremists (both religious and secular), and the ultra-Orthodox – will continue to appeal to Likud leaders after the Netanyahu era. These troubling realities should prompt significantly better performance and results from the democratic opposition, something the current leaders have failed to achieve. 

The IDF spokesperson releases moving patriotic conversations between fighter pilots and their commanders after daring missions. Many of these pilots participated in protests against the Likud’s attempted judicial coup. In those days, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi told them to “go to hell,” yet, luckily for us, they chose instead to risk their lives to defend Israel in the current war. How will these pilots, along with many others who bear the burden of the nation’s security and economy, react when, after the next elections, they find that their country continues to be led by Karhi, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Levin, Goldknopf, Shaked, Amsalem, and their ilk? It is likely that when they hear a replay of Karhi’s words condemning them to hell, they will indeed pack their bags. They won’t head to hell, of course; instead, they will turn to Silicon Valley, London, Sydney, and other alluring places hungry for their talents and professional capabilities.

The next elections could therefore represent a historic crossroads for Israel, and for the fate of the best of its sons and daughters. The election results may decide, in the hearts of many, the painful personal struggle over their future and that of their families: Is this the right place to raise children? Is it justifiable to educate these children to serve in combat units and risk their lives in missions ordered in part by those who don’t serve at all? Should we continue to subsidize a growing ultra-Orthodox sector that shirks both work and military service, as it helps distance Israel from the values of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law? Is Israel still that beloved and revered home worth dying for?

The camp seeking to bring down Netanyahu’s coalition is rightly demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to expose the government’s failures that led to the October 7th massacre. As Netanyahu attempts to dodge responsibility, his opponents argue that such an investigation is essential not only to hold those responsible accountable but also to draw lessons that will prevent so abject a failure to happen again. Does the logic of truth-seeking cease to be valid when it comes to addressing the failures of the opposition? After all, these failures have been accumulating before our eyes since the aftermath of the terrible disaster.

Sa’ar’s entry into the government provides time to examine why the opposition leaders have so far failed to upend the government. How did it fail to channel the enormous public anger into a political reckoning? Their failure resounds in the domain of political acumen and echoes endlessly in the ideological arena. They have failed to exploit ideal conditions for cracking the coalition and to formulate an ideological alternative to the government’s path. The next elections will determine Israel’s character. To win, the opposition requires a different kind of leadership.