I Will be Voting for Real Security

The final survey of the issues that are likely to influence people’s decisions in the elections next week has been released. The key word is “security.”

The cost of living is terrible and the gaps between rich and poor keep widening – but that is not an election issue for the majority of voters. The education system is failing on almost every count and the health system is suffering from budget cuts and shortages of doctors. Few think that this is an election issue. Even the lack of participation of the Haredi community in the economy and their failure to share the national burden is only a peripheral issue.

Surprisingly, the need for a formal commission into October 7^th and the factors that allowed it to happen, something supported by nearly 80% of Israelis and something that the outgoing government has failed to instigate, is not going to sway most voters’ choices.

A vocal minority – in which I count myself – is worried about the erosion of democracy and the threats to our legal system and freedom of the press. The majority are not even thinking about it.

The rights of minorities, especially but not only Arab citizens of Israel, racism, and violence in the Arab communities and the West Bank, are not considered important issues. The majority still thinks that this violence and organized gangs and intimidation cannot affect them. They do not see the undermining of rights of one sector of society as a threat to their own rights. The numbers of those murdered in their homes or streets have little impact on voting choices. Israelis are aware of the high level of violence in the country but do not link it to their own security.

The term “security” had become synonymous with military might. For many Israelis, “security” is not about threats to personal safety in the streets or in our homes, it is not about having a strong education system that will give our children professional and financial opportunities, it is not about feeling free to express our opinions or knowing that all are equal under the law. For more Israelis than ever before, “security” is not about creating an environment where there are few threats from outside or within. It is about building walls and barricades, about intimidating potential enemies so that they are afraid of the repercussions of attacking us. It is about having the better weapons – offensive as well as defensive – and the  willingness to act with force towards any threat.

I, too, want security. I want real security. I want a future for my children and grandchildren in which they have economic opportunities, access to ideas, freedom to roam the country and the world, in which the only national service they need to do is to contribute to civil society. I want the type of security you can only have in peace. I want the security that the outgoing government and, it seems, most Israelis cannot even imagine.

For the past two decades, the governments led by Netanyahu have eroded faith that this type of security, clearly envisioned by the founders of the State, can be achieved. They have led and actively educated the public to believe that security is synonymous with power. They have successfully undone the Zionist mantra that “if you will it, it is no dream” and have replaced it with the claim that peace-seekers are dreamers who undermine the Zionist enterprise. They have redefined Zionism as a right-wing, ultra-nationalist ideology, far from the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. They have hijacked the term and, in doing so, given our enemies plenty of ammunition for their propaganda against the very existence of the State – yet another assault on our security, which is mostly unrecognized by the voting public.

Israel began as a vibrant democracy with dreams of being accepted by her neighbours and with a commitment to protecting her minorities. In the first elections, in 1949, according to the Israel Democracy Institute, the main struggle was between two workers’ parties—Mapai and Mapam— which differed as to whether their socialism would be more like Western Europe or the Soviet model. Issues of religion and state, attitudes toward the Arab minority, and socio-economic issues also emerged in the election campaign, with vigorous and principled arguments. The War of Independence had not ended – armistice agreements were concluded in the months after the elections – but the idea that we would be continuously at war was not in the minds of most voters. We were a real country and had real social issues with which to grapple.

Attacks by or from our neighbouring states and the terrible rise in terrorism has driven Israelis further and further away from vision and hope, with each subsequent generation having more victims of violence to remember and grieve and, often, to avenge.  Conscription has meant that our children have learned to obey orders for their own safety and to proudly defend their families left on the home-front. For very good reasons, during military service, they cannot and do not question the need for their activities. In many cases, this has meant that after their release from service, they continue to accept the military decision-making process.

The education system has been gradually exploited to teach children ultra-nationalist messages. Many (perhaps most) teachers are committed and loving and many have liberal views, but they themselves are products of a compromised education process and they have little power to override the bigger messages. It is rare and laudable for teachers to open the minds of their students and ask them to critically reflect on the society in which they live, especially in an atmosphere where most of the parents do not want those questions raised.

Most Israelis are busy working hard to support their families and many do not have the time or the energy to look at the big questions. Many are still spending many days in the military reserves, taking them away from their families for weeks at a time. There, they encounter and often have to deal with real threats. They want security. The slogans that promise it are appealing.

So, just four days before the elections, I make this appeal: imagine real security. Imagine not having to worry about being attacked or invaded. Imagine feeling certain that the law is protecting you.  Imagine that the current military budget can be diverted to education and health and other social services. Imagine something different – something more secure – than what we currently have.

Do not abandon “security” as the main election issue but know that real security is not about military power. To achieve real security will require a radical re-orientation of the State and its priorities. Our votes need to be for something different – for real security.