While rummaging around the Internet, I came across two connected articles by a writer I had not heard of. I was so impressed by his clarity that I wanted to share his analysis with you. Fisher is Head of Health Innovation at HealthIL.org in Tel Aviv.

Part 1 is titled: Israel Has Lost the War.

Part 2 is titled: Hamas Has Lost the War.

This is the first part of a two-part series.

We will cover how Israel lost on the domestic front, on the Jewish Community front, and on the Global front. And then some ideas of what to do.

Harsh truths coming your way…

Make sure to read Part 2 on how Hamas Has Lost The War — as I have stated before, it is imperative to look at both sides.

ISRAEL LOST THE DOMESTIC WAR

On Oct. 7th Hamas Terrorists instigated a war — killing civilians, including children and babies, and taking hostages — of which over 100 are still in captivity.

Israel responded by launching an assault on the Hamas Terrorists in the Gaza strip, of which thousands of Gazan civilians have also tragically perished.

Israel effectively lost the second they decided to respond because they played directly into Hamas’ well-known trap of forcing a strong response from Israel, which galvanizes Jew Hatred, which forces Israel to back down and let Hamas replenish for the next round. Lather, rinse, repeat.

As Tom Friedman suggested recently in the NYT, maybe it would have been better for Israel to think strategically instead of instinctively and let the atrocities of Hamas resonate across the globe and create an alternative plan with the help of allies (what few remain).

But Israel’s true failure isn’t tactical, it is internal.

Ever since Netanyahu started his 16 year choke-hold on Israel, his government has failed to treat Hamas as the Jihadi terrorist organization it really is, turning a blind eye toward repeated warnings, and all for the sake of narcissism, holding on to power, appealing to far right settler/ultra-orthodox crazies, and actively avoiding any conversation about “Peace.”

In fact, in the weeks before Oct 7, the Netanyahu government moved soldiers from the Gaza border to the West Bank, allegedly to “protect” a bunch of settler crazies who wanted to build a Sukkah in the West Bank to provoke the Palestinian population.

And then everything blew up.

The longer-term result of the October 7th Massacre is the complete destruction of internal trust. Israelis no longer trust the government to protect them. Israelis no longer trust each other — and there is a fear that the already tenuous relationship between Israeli Jews and Muslims will erode into chaos.

And Israelis no longer trust in the future of the country.

There is little doubt that this Netanyahu government will screw it up, and there doesn’t seem to be any plan for the future — whether it is dealing with Hamas, dealing with Hizballah, or anything else. So far Israelis have received no cogent plan for anything; just pomposity and calls from crazy right wingers to create new settlements in Gaza.

Israel Lost the Jewish Front

…Let’s be real for a second. Israel, and Jews, have lost credibility. It doesn’t matter how many times Israel (or Jews) call out blatant one-sided hypocrisy, it falls on deaf ears.

Support from the global community is quickly waning, and even Israel’s historic allies like Canada, Australia, and the UK are backpedaling.

And can you blame them? How do Israeli politicians expect anybody in the world to trust Israel? The country has a prime minister who is a criminal, but is un-convicted. It has far right settler crazies who go on violent rampages in the West Bank but are never prosecuted. And very recently, Simcha Rothman, an ultra-conservative member of parliament (Knesset) submitted a proposed bill to the government denying due process to Hamas terrorists.

This creates a moral conundrum: is Israel a country that respects the rule of law for all, or is the rule of law selective only to Jewish Israelis? Keep in mind this is the same Simcha Rothman who was put in charge of ramrodding the preposterous Judicial Reform in Israel — moving the country markedly away from Democracy and toward a theocratic dictatorship.

Long gone is the Israel of the Biden generation — when Israel granted even Eichmann a trial and due process of law, and even paid for Eichmann’s legal fees (!!!). The Israel of today, as seen from the global lens, is one where morality is tossed aside in favor of courting favor with far-right extremists and Ultra-Orthodox religious fanatics, all so Netanyahu can maintain his seat on the throne.

David Ben Gurion spoke passionately of Israel as the “Light Unto the Nations” — a moral and social beacon in the middle of a violent and backwards Middle East. Over the last two decades Israel has had a number of opportunities to rise above and build long term strategic plans to ensure stability and possibly even Peace. Instead, Israel decided to cave to the short-sighted whims of far right extremists and the Ultra-Orthodox.

Turns out that Israel isn’t a “Light Unto the Nations”, but is just as crappy as every other country…

So what to do now?

This part is much easier said than done.

1. Halt all expansion in the West Bank; immediately and permanently.

This is not a PR trick. Continued Israeli expansion in the West Bank is untenable in the long run, politically, morally, and economically. (I wrote that article in 2014! Think how much worse it is now). I don’t know what to do with the settlements going forward, but stopping expansion needs to happen now.

2. Get rid of the crazies.

All of the fanatic right wingers need to leave. They are causing material damage to Israel, politically, economically, internationally. Of course, this requires voting them out (yes, Israel is a democracy).

3. Support non-Jewish Israelis

This may come as a shock to many readers, but Israel is not, in fact an Apartheid state. Non-Jewish citizens get full rights as Jewish citizens, as protected by law. But (big but), inequalities are persistent and have been neglected for decades. Israel needs to do more to address inequality for Arab Israelis (Muslims, Christians, Druze, etc…). They are a vital and vibrant part of the country and represent over 20% of the population.

4. End this silly “Judicial Reform”

Obvious.

5. Stop bankrolling Ultra-Orthodox idleness

Israel is a global powerhouse of technological innovation in all sectors. Every single country in the world benefits from Israeli innovation, directly or indirectly. I firmly believe that shared economic well-being can be a major impetus toward coexistence (see Israel and the UAE). The Israeli health-tech sector (near and dear to my heart) has the potential to improve lives across the globe, especially across the greater MENA region.

But tech innovation and the shared prosperity and progress that comes with it has one major prerequisite — smart human capital. Every cent that goes toward unproductive aims — like massive subsidies to the Ultra Orthodox — do damage to Israel’s future.

Plus, I don’t want to live in a theocracy.

6. Admit you can’t “Destroy Hamas”

I get the need to rally around the flag, but it is also impossible. You can’t “eliminate Hamas” because Hamas is not a person or a group — it is an ideology. Much like ISIS was never really eliminated.

This means Israel needs to shift focus toward strategic longer term approaches and not pure militant approaches.

Good luck to all of us.

My view: I endorse Yoav Fisher’s views. But I would go even farther than him regarding the West Bank settlements, which is easy for me to say since I don’t live in Israel. I think they should be completely removed from the West Bank, because that area would be part of any future Palestinian state. Ariel Sharon dismantled Israeli settlements in Gaza in 2005, despite angry protests. But he knew it had to be done. The West Bank settlements don’t belong there; they were intended to be an obstacle to a new Palestinian nation.

And as a note to readers, I want to explain Fisher’s reference in point 5 to “Ultra-Orthodox idleness.” These groups, known as Haredi in Israel, believe that boys and men should devote themselves to studying Torah. They are exempt from military service, and they pay little, if any, taxes. Their wives, who are second-class citizens, work at low-wage jobs to support the family. The Haredi are politically powerful, even though they are only 10% of the population (and growing), and they are subsidized by the government.

An article in Foreign Policy—written before October 7– claimed that Haredi power had peaked, but that may have been wishful thinking. After that fateful day, some Haredi volunteered and some even joined the military. But secular Jews like Fisher nonetheless believe that the government should not subsidize their life of Torah study.