The World Is No Longer Willing to Wait for Us

In my role and within the frameworks in which I operate, I am in contact with many foreign diplomats in Israel and with Democratic politicians in the United States, all of whom are supporters of Israel. In conversations with them, I repeatedly hear the same sentence: the liberals in Israel who oppose Netanyahu’s government but think like him that a political move to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not possible currently are “living in a fairy tale.”

They say that, in every conversation with Israelis, they hear the same explanation: Israeli society is traumatized, and therefore it is not possible to expect significant moves from it currently to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the best-case scenario, the next government will be more sane. It will reduce settler terrorism, restore relations with Egypt and Jordan, strengthen ties with the Abraham Accords countries, and rehabilitate the connections with the Palestinian Authority. But a Palestinian state? Self-determination for the Palestinians? This is, as their friends in Israel say, too much for us right now. But the world is no longer willing to wait for us.

A large majority of Democrats in the United States, extensive parts of the American Jewish community, and liberal governments around the world are no longer satisfied with just replacing Netanyahu and returning to a kind of “change government 2.0.” For them, the question is not just who will lead the Israeli government, but where Israel is headed.

Here lies the biggest gap in their perception of reality. While Israelis continue to talk mainly about the trauma of October 7, the world is also looking at the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the daily costs paid by the two million residents of Gaza who are in an unbearable humanitarian situation, as well as the settler violence and ongoing Israeli takeover of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 

They see what is happening there not only as a result of an extreme right-wing government but as a consequence of the ongoing occupation and bloody conflict. While we ask for understanding of Israeli fear, the international community asks us to understand the price the current reality exacts from the Palestinians as well – and its consequences for the region and the world.

Three years ago, it was still possible to tell the international community, “Allow the Israelis and Palestinians time. When they are ready for an agreement, help them.” Today, this argument has lost its validity. The understanding is growing that the continuation of the conflict and its costs can no longer be contained and that it is not limited to this region. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict fuels radicalization in the Arab world, Europe, and the United States; dramatically increases the level of antisemitism; and affects political stability in many countries.

Therefore, the expectation that a new Israeli government will receive a few years of grace to “stabilize the situation” before taking political steps no longer aligns with the political reality and public opinion in the democratic world. 

International pressure is increasing – and not only from those who oppose Israel in any case. It is precisely the countries and communities that seek to remain friendly to Israel that are increasingly asking why Israel is not willing to confront the main source of instability in the region and why it does not present any reasonable and realistic political horizon for a solution. 

They see that the political discourse in Israel effectively silences the very legitimacy of such a discussion and leads to a political dialogue that oscillates between annexation moves and calls for transfer promoted by the coalition parties and the continuation of the political status quo advocated by most opposition parties (except for the Democrats), without any central political force promoting a political solution.

Beyond the increasing signs of international pressure, this is, of course, a clear Israeli interest. It is impossible to return to the notion of “conflict management” as if the last three years had not happened. We are approaching a point of no return, where not only are our relations with the world at risk, but also the very possibility of realizing the Zionist vision of a democratic homeland for the Jewish people.

Yes, Israel is indeed in trauma. But trauma cannot become policy, neither domestic nor foreign. After the trauma of the Holocaust, our state was established, as Ben-Gurion showed us when he declared independence despite the risks. After the trauma of the Yom Kippur War, Israel, led by Menachem Begin, took a historic political step by signing the peace agreement with Egypt and evacuating the settlements in Sinai. After crises, we must act to bring about the necessary positive change instead of wallowing in licking our wounds, especially while continuing the military confrontation on all fronts without striving for a solution in any of them.

The world observing Israel sees full restaurants and beaches, while people live and die in Gaza under inhumane conditions. We continue to talk about ourselves as victims of Palestinian violence while being blind to what we are creating. While the world sees the images from the West Bank of settler violence and understands that it is not just “rogue elements” but a planned attempt to drive Palestinians from their homes and make their lives miserable, the Israeli government and the IDF, in the worst case, give them backing and, in the less bad case, treat it as an internal “governance” issue and ignore the broader context. 

This reality is a direct result of deliberate actions by the current coalition led by Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich; against this policy, it is impossible to present a vision of the status quo, but only a move toward fundamental change through courageous political leadership.

Israel must see that in the international and regional political reality, a window of opportunity has opened that must not be missed: a historic change is occurring before our eyes in Lebanon and Syria. Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which is supposed to lead to a Palestinian state, has been approved by the Security Council and serves as the political framework for all relevant players despite the current Israeli government’s attempts to sabotage it. Arab countries want to help build a new regional order that weakens extremists and strengthens moderates. They are yearning for an Israeli government that can support the effort to finally resolve the bloody conflict with the Palestinians and move toward a political process that will bring broader regional stability.

The question facing Israel is not just which government will be formed after Netanyahu. The question is whether the next government will seek to “manage the conflict” better – or finally dare to present a realistic plan to end it and allow a reality where Israel is integrated among the countries of the region alongside a demilitarized Palestinian state.

The world is ready to help us. But it is no longer willing to wait for us.