What Is at Stake for Israel Tomorrow

With less than twenty-four hours before Israelis go to the polls, I keep returning to the question of trust. Can we rebuild confidence in our leadership and in our ability to share a future? Can we earn back trust beyond our borders? For me, tomorrow’s election will help determine both.

I want an Israel whose strength gives its citizens security and whose values give them reason to believe in it. The choices we make about accountability, equality and the limits of power will shape the country we live in and the relationships we can sustain abroad.

That begins with October 7. Benjamin Netanyahu was prime minister when the state failed catastrophically to protect its citizens. I believe that carries a responsibility no leader can transfer entirely to the military or intelligence services. We needed and still need an independent state commission of inquiry with the authority to establish what happened and who was responsible. The families deserve answers. Our future security requires that we learn from them. Our country deserves an answer if we are ever to start our healing process.

Democratic accountability must also survive election night. A government needs the power to govern within rules that protect everyone. I want independent courts and public servants able to carry out their duties without political intimidation. I want journalists free to investigate those in power. These safeguards matter if we are to maintain a democratic society.

The country also needs a fairer understanding of what we owe one another. Repeated reserve duty, alongside the continuing dispute over ultra-Orthodox military exemptions, has made that question unavoidable. Respect for religious study must be accompanied by a fairer sharing of public obligations. The families carrying the heaviest burdens deserve decisions that reflect their sacrifice.

I care deeply about the relationship between Judaism and the state. I want a Jewish Israel confident enough to respect different ways of being Jewish. Masorti, Reform, Orthodox and secular Jews should all feel that this country belongs to them. Religious conviction should enrich public life without giving one interpretation of Judaism ownership of the state.

We deserve a government focused on ordinary life. Housing, education and security will help determine whether young Israelis believe they can build their future here. This country has not had a break since the COVID-19 outbreak, hence a serious recovery must include sustained support for people living with trauma and families whose livelihoods have been disrupted.

We also must focus our attention onto Israel’s Arab citizens. Equal citizenship means safety in their communities, fair access to public resources and respect for their democratic participation. Their votes carry the same legitimacy as mine. Living in Haifa, I see the future of Jewish and Arab citizens as inseparable. Our politics should take that shared future seriously.

These domestic choices will be visible well beyond Israel. A country that protects its institutions and holds its leaders accountable gives its friends stronger grounds for confidence in it. A government that tolerates violence or treats criticism as disloyalty makes those relationships harder to sustain.

Security remains the first duty of any Israeli government. October 7 made the cost of failure painfully clear. I want leaders capable of confronting real threats while explaining how their decisions lead toward greater security over time. That requires diplomacy, regional partnerships and not a picture of Tel Aviv being incinerated by a nuclear bomb.

Palestinian civilian lives and rights must have a place in our discussion too. Especially in the aftermath of October 7 and precisely because of that wretched day.  For the sake of the future of Israel we need to do all that is in our power to resolve a conflict between two people who continue to pay a heavy price. We should demand effective action against settler violence and policies that preserve the possibility of a political settlement with the same vigor we use to fight Palestinian terrorism. I believe these are obligations of a state that takes its own democratic and Jewish values seriously. They also affect the credibility of every argument we make abroad.

As an American and Israeli I am particularly concerned about the future of the relationship Israeli and American societies have with one another. Israel needs durable support across political parties and generations. Diplomacy and personal warmth between leaders cannot secure that future by itself.

Israel’s future depends on cooperation with European partners, scientific and commercial relationships, and opportunities for greater regional acceptance. I worry about a country becoming accustomed to isolation and calling that “independence.” We should be working to widen the circle of people willing to engage with us instead of preparing our citizens for the isolationist realities that may be ahead of us.

These are all reasons why I co-founded the Kerem Alliance. I want people abroad to encounter the Israelis building shared communities and contributing to lives beyond our borders. Those stories deserve to be heard. Their credibility also requires honesty about the country’s failures. Civil society cannot carry the entire burden of repairing trust while government decisions undermine it.

I have no illusion that a different prime minister would resolve all of this. Any new coalition must be judged by its commitments and its actions. The work after the election will require persistence from citizens as well as leadership from those who win.

Tomorrow, I want us to choose a government willing to undertake that work. I want the next generation to inherit an Israel they can trust at home and stand behind abroad.