The state of Israel is at war. We are attacked on multiple fronts in a war we seemingly cannot win. The national newspapers decry a lack of trust in leadership. There are accusations of constitutional coups and usurped power. Some people label the Prime Minister as a dictator attempting to seize illegitimate amounts of control, while he believes forces, both political and beyond, are conspiring to remove his democratically elected government.
This may sound all too familiar. But it is actually a description of the situation in May 1948, just prior to the state of Israel’s birth.
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Shikma Bresler in a protest against the governments judicial legislation
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
Merely two days before Israel declared independence, following the ‘Generals’ Revolt’ and the subsequent ‘People’s Assembly’, our nascent state stood at the precipice of tearing itself apart.
This crisis emerged as David Ben-Gurion insisted that the Haganah, then a collection of local militias under the leadership of different generals responding to the needs of their local communities, must come under central democratic control, with him as Defense Minister.
The generals threatened resignation en masse. Newspapers declared it a "constitutional coup" and branded Ben-Gurion a dictator. Meanwhile, Yigal Yadin, the head of operations for the Haganah, told the gathered leaders in a meeting that took place on May 12th that Israel's chances of winning the impending war were, at best, 50/50.
The parallels to our current moment are striking. Once again, we find ourselves in an existential crisis, surrounded by enemies who perceive vulnerability in our internal divisions. Once again, our newspapers and social media are filled with extreme rhetoric about democratic values under threat, power grabs, and delegitimization of elected leadership.
Yet here is the miracle worth remembering: Israel survived its founding divisions. Not only survived but also went on to win a war against the odds. The noisy extremes did not represent the deeper feelings of the people. Beneath the heated rhetoric, there existed a fundamental understanding that everyone, despite profound disagreements, was working toward what they believed was the good for Israel.
Today, we must reclaim this understanding.
The issues we face are genuinely complex. There exists a real imperative, on all sides, to bring the hostages home. There is also a genuine imperative not to empower Hamas with control of territories and billions in funding that could threaten Israel's future security. These are not simple matters; they are complex, and while they have many aspects, we can recognize that all parties, no matter their opinions, have the best intentions for Israel at heart, even if we don’t agree with their opinions.
What we need above all is to recognize what connects us rather than what divides us. We must acknowledge that, however anguished or fearful we may be, we ultimately care about each other and our shared destiny. Benjamin Netanyahu cares about Israel. Yair Lapid cares about Israel. The protesters in the streets care about Israel. The reservists who serve care about Israel.
As individual citizens, as politicians, as a society, we need to loosen our grip on our perceived absolute certainty. We must be less harsh and more forgiving toward those with opposing views. We must recognize that we're all experiencing a profoundly difficult time, one that naturally makes us want to see enemies in those who disagree with us, and while that is normal, to an extent, we must fight against the tendency.
We should acknowledge that the media, both traditional and social, often work to divide us by amplifying the most extreme voices and positions. Conflict drives engagement; nuance rarely makes headlines.
The path forward lies in seeing each other as family, brothers and sisters bound by a shared destination and destiny, a common faith and a common fate. Just as Israel succeeded in 1948 to navigate the crisis, mere days before its founding, as we find ourselves in a similar position today, we must have faith that we too can persevere and persevere together. The key to doing so is to resist tearing each other apart first, so that we can locate common ground and grow together.
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The miracle of Israel has never been that we agree on everything. The miracle is that despite profound disagreements, we have built something extraordinary together. We have survived external threats precisely because, when it matters most, we remember that what binds us together is stronger than what pulls us apart.
Let us assume good faith in those with whom we disagree. Let us remember that the person on the other side of the political divide is not our enemy but our family, someone with whom we share a past and a future. Deep down, we don't want to tear each other apart. We want to live together. We want to build together. We want our children to inherit a secure, Jewish, democratic, and thriving Israel, as our common national and spiritual home.
That shared desire, more than any policy position, is what, God willing, will carry us through this political crisis and divide, just as it has carried us through every crisis before.
Rabbi Daniel Rowe currently serves as the educational visionary of Aish, a global Jewish educational institution.