Gadi Eisenkot – Be Ben-Gurion, Not Netanyahu!

Photo: Fritz Cohen, Government Press Office (GPO)

Gadi Eisenkot, this is a rare opportunity to correct deep-rooted distortions in our country – in its relations with the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities and with its Arab citizens – and to repair the destruction, at home and on the international stage, left behind by Netanyahu’s far-too-long rule.

Leadership is measured by the ability to make hard decisions in difficult times, and today the very survival of the state is in serious danger. Another term for a Netanyahu government allied with messianic extremists would surely bring about the destruction of the “Third Temple” – the modern State of Israel.

These days are similar to the time of the state’s founding. Back then, there was a real danger that the Yishuv – the Jewish community in the Land of Israel – would not survive. Fortunately, David Ben-Gurion made fateful decisions, despite fierce opposition – decisions that have shaped the country to this day. Many of them stemmed from the principle of mamlachtiyut: transferring power from parties, movements and underground militias to the state. Among those decisions:

• The Declaration of Independence (May 1948). Ben-Gurion pushed to declare the state despite American pressure to postpone the declaration, and despite hesitation within the People’s Administration, the provisional leadership.

• Founding the IDF and dismantling the underground militias (May 1948). The Israel Defense Forces were established, and the existence of any other armed force was prohibited. The Haganah, the Irgun, and the Lehi were to merge into a single army.
• The Altalena affair (June 1948). Ben-Gurion ordered troops to open fire on the Irgun’s arms ship off the coast of Tel Aviv, after the Irgun demanded that part of the weapons go to its own fighters. Sixteen Irgun members and three IDF soldiers were killed. It was one of the most controversial decisions in the country’s history, but it established that there would be no weapons outside the army.
• Dismantling the Palmach headquarters (November 1948). The Palmach was the elite mobilized force, but it was politically identified with the Mapam party and the kibbutz movement. Ben-Gurion did not want “an army within an army” with partisan loyalties, so he dissolved its separate headquarters and integrated its brigades into the IDF. The move provoked great anger, and senior commanders such as Yigal Allon left the army in the years that followed.
• The Security Service Law (1949). The law established compulsory service for all citizens, including women, and created the model of a “people’s army.”

• The Armistice Agreements (1949). He chose to fix borders and gain international legitimacy rather than keep fighting to conquer Judea and Samaria.
• Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (December 1949). He moved the Knesset and government ministries to Jerusalem, in response to the UN decision to internationalize the city.

• Open gates for mass immigration. Within about three years, the Jewish population nearly doubled. The decision was made despite severe shortages of resources, and it led to the establishment of the ma’abarot, the immigrant transit camps.

• The Reparations Agreement with Germany (1952). The agreement sparked one of the fiercest public storms in the country’s history, including a violent demonstration outside the Knesset led by Menachem Begin. Ben-Gurion saw the funds as an existential necessity for the economy.

• The State Education Law (1953). The law abolished the party-affiliated “streams” in education (Labor, General and Mizrachi) and replaced them with a state system, alongside a state-religious stream. It was yet another statist decision that broke up centers of party power.

In contrast to Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu’s time in power – even longer than Ben-Gurion’s – was marked not by statesmanship and fateful decisions, but by concern for his own political survival. In the final years of his rule he sought one-man rule, marked by personal and party corruption, the destruction of the state’s systems and institutions of government, and damage to relations with countries around the world – including Israel’s strategic relationships with both the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. This is very serious damage to national security.

Now, Mr. Eisenkot, reality has handed you a golden opportunity. It involves difficult decisions and considerable opposition, but it can mark the beginning of a great repair: correcting internal distortions that date back to the founding of the state; repairing the destruction left here by Netanyahu’s corrupt rule and the messianic parties of the extreme right; and repairing the country’s foreign relations after the damage done by Netanyahu’s policies – while continuing to advance peace with more countries in our region:

1. Correcting the distortion toward Israel’s Arab citizens. Eisenkot, you have received a mandate from the President to form a government, and as you yourself described it, this is a national emergency government. Time is short, and it must be formed quickly. The Arab parties, which won 19 seats in the election, recommended you to the President. They must be taken into account and included in decision-making: they represent about one-fifth of the country’s citizens, and a democracy cannot ignore a fifth of its citizens. They are not seeking a role in foreign and security decisions; their concern is improving the living conditions of Arab citizens and their integration into the state. We must reach out to them. This will lead to better integration of Arab citizens, less crime in Arab society and a greater contribution to the national economy, and it will also serve as a bridge to further advancing peace in our region – with the Palestinians and with more Arab countries.
2. Correcting the distortion toward the Haredi parties. The Haredi parties should be brought in – not in order to grant yeshiva students exemptions from service, but to reach an understanding with them that the Haredi public must take part in the institutions of the state like all other citizens: through military or national service, and through education that includes core curriculum studies, enabling them to join the workforce and contribute to themselves and to the national economy. This is achievable: they will believe that you are acting in good faith, and it can work.
3. Resolving the Palestinian issue. We must move toward an agreement with the Palestinians. After nearly 60 years of occupation, and especially now, as Jewish terrorism wreaks terrible destruction in Judea and Samaria, we must resolve the problem – and it can be done. Resolving the Palestinian issue is an imperative for the sake of Israel itself; otherwise it will become an apartheid state, shunned by the world, whose young people will flee. A state between the Jordan River and the sea, with about 7 million Jews and about 7 million Palestinians under absolute Jewish rule, is not a viable state. Moreover, a move toward resolving the Palestinian issue would advance peace processes with additional countries that are waiting in the wings – among them a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia.
4. Repairing the system of government and healing the rift. We must begin repairing the systems and institutions of government and the distorted legislation passed under Netanyahu and the messianic camp of the extreme right, and heal the rift between all sectors of Israeli society.
5. A constitution for Israel. Israel must adopt a constitution after nearly 80 years of existence. A constitution would ensure that no government, however corrupt – like Netanyahu’s – could turn the country’s system of government into a dictatorship, as we came very close to under his rule, which had already become one-man rule.

In conclusion, Mr. Gadi Eisenkot, time is short. As you yourself put it, a national emergency government is needed, and quickly. Do not let elements within the change bloc – such as Liberman, who at every new government’s formation becomes an obstacle and a source of disruption for purely personal reasons – nor Netanyahu, his party and his mouthpieces across every media channel, frame and define what you may and may not do. Act according to your conscience and integrity, with a strategic view of the good and the future of the State of Israel, as you have done until now, with great courage – and everything will fall into place and succeed.