The Israel We Could Have: A Political Fantasy That Doesn’t Have to Remain a Fantasy

Imagine that in the coming days, Gadi Eisenkot calls Mansour Abbas, Yousef Jabareen, and Ahmad Tibi and invites them to join Israel’s next government. Not as outsiders providing parliamentary support, but as full partners with ministerial responsibilities. Then he calls Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Golan and tells them that the time has come to abandon one of the most destructive conventions in Israeli politics: excluding Arab citizens from national political power.

Imagine that they all agree.

I know. This is political fantasy. But after everything Israel has experienced, we need to imagine something radically different. Not simply replacing Benjamin Netanyahu, but replacing the political culture that brought us here. Not another coalition united by opposition to Netanyahu, but a government with a shared vision of Israel’s future.

There is no sustainable democratic future for Israel if one-fifth of its citizens are permanently excluded from government. Their votes are worth exactly as much as those of Jewish citizens.

Imagine the government that could emerge if our leaders dared to think differently.

Eisenkot becomes prime minister. Bennett becomes defense minister. Lapid becomes foreign minister. Lieberman becomes finance minister. Golan becomes national security minister. Mansour Abbas becomes deputy prime minister and interior minister. Ahmad Tibi becomes health minister. Yousef Jabareen becomes education minister. Efrat Rayten becomes justice minister. Hili Tropper becomes welfare minister. Matan Kahana becomes religious services minister. Naama Lazimi becomes transportation minister.

Other portfolios are distributed according to competence and representation. The government is deliberately small, without invented ministries to satisfy political egos.

For the first time, Arab ministers are responsible for the welfare of every Israeli and participate fully in national security decisions. This is not a government of the Left or Right. It is a government of national reconstruction.

Security first, but security with a strategy

The government’s first responsibility is protecting Israeli lives. Eisenkot, Bennett, Golan, and Lieberman understand national security. They also know that the doctrine preceding October 7 failed catastrophically. The belief that Hamas could be contained, Palestinian aspirations ignored, and military superiority substituted for political strategy proved disastrous.

Israel will maintain overwhelming military capabilities, strengthen intelligence and border defenses, and preserve its ability to confront Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other threats. An independent state commission of inquiry will investigate October 7 and establish accountability.

But military strength will no longer be confused with strategy. Every military operation must serve a political objective. Israel will not initiate wars without considering how they end.

In Gaza, the government will prevent Hamas from returning to military or governmental control while supporting legitimate Palestinian civilian governance, professional security institutions, internationally supervised reconstruction, and verifiable disarmament.

In the West Bank, it will confront terrorism while ending violent settler lawlessness. Illegal outposts will be dismantled, settlement expansion frozen, and security cooperation strengthened. Israel will call for Palestinian presidential and legislative elections because Palestinians need agency and Israel needs a legitimate Palestinian partner.

The government will seek regional security arrangements with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, recognizing that lasting security requires a political agreement with the Palestinians.

Its guiding principle: Israel will never have security until Palestinians have freedom, and Palestinians will never have freedom until Israel has security.

Rebuilding democracy and society

The government will reverse the judicial overhaul, restore judicial independence, and initiate a constitutional process based on the Declaration of Independence, protecting Israel as the national home of the Jewish people while guaranteeing full equality for all citizens.

Yair Golan will appoint Yoav Segolovitz as his deputy to confront organized crime, particularly in Arab society. Police, financial authorities, and prosecutors will target criminal organizations and illegal weapons.

Mansour Abbas will lead unprecedented investment in local government, including Arab municipalities, development towns, the Negev, and the Galilee.

Yousef Jabareen will reform education. Jewish children will learn Arabic as the language of their fellow citizens. Arab schools will receive equitable resources. All schools will emphasize democratic citizenship, critical thinking, and mutual respect.

Lieberman will redirect billions from political patronage toward healthcare, education, housing, transportation, and economic development. The government will confront the cost of living and strengthen public services.

Civil marriage will become available. Local authorities will gain greater freedom over Shabbat transportation. A fair framework for military and civilian national service will recognize different forms of contribution.

The objective is not to erase differences between Israelis, but to ensure those differences no longer prevent us from living together.

The first real test

Imagine that several months after the government is formed, a terrorist attack kills Israeli civilians.

The security cabinet meets. Bennett demands decisive action. Golan insists on precision. Lieberman calls for deterrence. Abbas and Jabareen condemn the attack, demand justice, and insist that innocent civilians must not be punished.

They argue, listen to professional assessments, and decide together.

The security forces pursue those responsible while taking every feasible precaution to protect uninvolved civilians. Arab ministers stand alongside Jewish colleagues and accept collective responsibility.

Imagine the significance. Not because disagreements disappear, but because Israeli democracy finally accommodates them within government.

A different future with the Palestinians

The government announces its willingness to negotiate with a new, legitimate Palestinian leadership. Working with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states, it develops a regional framework linking Israeli security, Palestinian freedom, reconstruction, and normalization.

Not every coalition member agrees on final borders or Palestinian sovereignty. But they agree that permanent occupation cannot remain Israel’s strategy.

Arab ministers fundamentally change the atmosphere. Palestinians see that Arab citizens of Israel are no longer excluded from political leadership. Jewish Israelis discover that Arab politicians can share responsibility for national security and the state’s future.

Four years later

Imagine Israel four years after this government takes office.

Imagine Arab citizens knowing their votes determine who governs. Jewish citizens accustomed to Arab ministers competently managing national institutions. Organized crime substantially reduced, public services improved, and a government judged by achievements rather than hatred.

Imagine Israel with a strong army, secure borders, functioning democratic institutions, and a credible diplomatic strategy. Israeli leaders traveling openly to Riyadh and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations making measurable progress toward ending the conflict.

Imagine young Israelis, Jewish and Arab, no longer assuming their future will be defined by endless war.

I am not naïve. I know the ideological differences between Bennett, Lieberman, Golan, Abbas, and Jabareen. Some have explicitly rejected governing together. Reconciling their positions on Palestinian statehood, settlements, religion, and national identity would be extraordinarily difficult.

But the conventional wisdom of Israeli politics has repeatedly led us into disaster.

Excluding Arab citizens from government is not a law of nature. It is a political choice. So is the belief that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can never be resolved, or that military force alone can provide lasting security.

Perhaps Lieberman will never sit with Jabareen, Bennett with Abbas, or Eisenkot with the Joint List. But every political transformation begins when someone decides that what has always been considered impossible is no longer acceptable. And perhaps the first step toward reaching it is imagining an Israel that none of our political leaders has yet had the courage to create.