Criticising Netanyahu not enough – Israel needs new leaders

Rocket fire from the north and south; the looming threat of war with Iran; more than 100 000 displaced Israelis; a rising death toll on both sides; and hostages still trapped in Gaza. Israel is coming closer to an existential threat than ever before.

That’s according to Charisse Zeifert, the deputy director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, who moderated a Limmud panel titled, “Israel: Tomorrow and the Day After”, which weighed up different scenarios for the country.

“The future is certainly unknown,” said award-winning Israeli journalist Yaron Deckel, the head of the Jewish Agency in Canada and former chief executive of Galei Tzahal – Israel’s army radio station. “We don’t know when the war will end, whether it will expand, or when the displaced families and hostages will be able to return home.

“One thing is known – the government of Israel is working for its survival,” he said. First presenting a pessimistic view, Deckel said the war would go on as long as the government deemed it necessary, even if it took years. This was because any ceasefire deal would be with Hamas, which it aims to eliminate. Moreover, the two right-wing parties that keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power are against any deal, so making one would threaten the coalition and his political future.

“The prime minister also wants to continue the war because for as long as it goes on, there will be no enquiry into what led to 7 October,” Deckel said. “Hamas is, however, not the same organisation it was on 6 October. The Israel Defense Forces has had success and Hamas is weaker, but it still has the ability to control the Gaza Strip and fire some rockets.” Israel cannot accept that, but it also cannot afford an endless war, literally and figuratively. There needs to be a clear alternative for the future of Gaza once Hamas is gone.

Yet, Deckel spoke of the surprises in the Middle East over the past few decades, including an ever-increasing willingness by Arab countries to sign peace treaties with Israel. “Looking back at the past 30 years, we have good reason to be optimistic,” he said. Finding lasting peace would require new and courageous leadership on both sides.

Ofir Dayan, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, looked at Israel’s challenges beyond the war. Though an election is slated for only the end of 2026, she predicted that the Israeli public would push for it to happen sooner.

“A big influence in those elections are new, emerging parties of younger people who come from outside the realms of traditional politics but have clear vision.” This is something she argued was sorely needed at a time when many politicians weren’t worthy of their positions. “I want to feel that my representatives are better than me. This is a key part of democracy,” Dayan said.

Dayan also stressed the need for a government that protects Israel’s right to exist and takes care of Jews in the diaspora. “I lived in New York for five years, and I watched how Israel knowingly ruins connections with diaspora communities,” she said. “What’s more, Israel has neglected and politicised public diplomacy to the point that it’s a true danger to its future.” Global perceptions of Israel will shape the thinking of the future leaders of the United States and influence its foreign policy.

Yonatan Mizrachi, research associate at the Forum for Regional Thinking and co-director of Settlement Watch in the Peace Now movement, said that his vision for Israel’s future went beyond the current government.

“Israel has abandoned the idea of having peace with the Palestinians,” he said. “Yet, the future of Israel very much depends on the future of the Palestinians. If we want to make a change, it means we have to ask ourselves what the price of this change will be, and how we get along not just with our neighbours but with the people who live among us, the Palestinians.

“This is the most important thing – it shapes everything in Israel from corruption to the way Israel treats its own civilians.” Though it’s popular to be anti-Netanyahu in Israel, he said, it’s not enough. “I don’t see a radical change in Israel if we don’t find a political solution with the Palestinians.”

Yet after the horrors of 7 October and the fear and suspicion it has entrenched, reaching an agreement with the Palestinians seems unlikely any time soon, Dayan said. Nevertheless, without such a solution, said Mizrachi, we run the risk of fighting a useless war. “A political solution is possible,” he stressed. In finding it, Mizrachi suggested looking beyond hate to find humanity.