Yesterday, we met a new, brewing political party called El Ha-Degel, “To the Flag,” and heard from one of its founders, David Sherez (additional links to El Ha-Degel are at the bottom of this post).
Since we dove into the world of politics and political figures with yesterday’s post, it seemed appropriate today to share two quick videos that have made their way across Israeli social media—worth sharing because they make clear how difficult it is going to be for anyone—old or new—to get their ideas heard by those who don’t already agree with them.
Israelis have a host of issues to address, with no obvious solutions. So one might think that in the face of our plummeting international standing, increasingly wide-spread international consensus that the IDF has committed at least some war crimes and utterly ineffectual Israeli response to those accusations, the fact that we can’t stop the Houthis from firing at us (we have to stop every missile, while they just have to get one through with a serious hit) and host of other challenges, people would be interested in hearing new ideas.
But that’s not how tribal identity works.
If' you’re on the right, then anyone who’s left of Bibi is a disgrace and a danger to the Jewish state. How much the more-so if that “someone” is Yair Golan, who recently made that horribly foolish comment about the IDF killing babies as a hobby.
So Golan was at a conference in Sderot, a conference the purpose of which was specifically to bring together different voices, and as you can see, he got nowhere.
I’m not sure that telling the crowd how brave he is, how much he loves them when it was pretty obvious that he didn’t, etc., was a smart move, but his chances in elections (whenever they happen) were pretty bleak anyway. Still, his words to the crowd and their attitude to him reveals a great deal about Israeli political life.
But it’s not only crowds on the right responding that way to figures on the left. Below (from which the small snippet at the very top of this post is taken), we see a left crowd at the Katznelson Forum, refusing to let Benny Gantz speak. The catcalls at the beginning accuse him of having agreed to sit with Netanyahu in a government, which he in fact did. To the left, that makes him a disgrace, and no less a threat to the nation than the right thinks Yair Golan is.
Here, at greater length than the snippet above, another glimpse into an Israeli conference (remember, it was a conference, not a political rally).
What will it take for Israelis to start listening to those for whom they didn’t or wouldn’t vote? Will it take a crisis of gargantuan proportions (Iran readied with a bomb, the EU not allowing Israeli passports to enter, or worse…), or would that just lead to even more public bloodletting?
It’s hard to know. But clearly, a nation facing existential challenges is not even close to having the conversations it desperately needs.
Is there a person in the wings with the ability to change that culture, or at least to shift it? That may very well be one of the most important questions that will shape Israel’s future.
A few items about people we’ve had the privilege of hearing from in previous episodes of the Israel from the Inside podcast:
In February, we heard from Dr. Ran Baratz on how the IDF needs to completely rebuild itself because it made the mistake of trying to become a “post modern” army. On Tuesday, I was very saddened to read this Facebook post from Dr. Baratz:
So much pain. Omer Van Gelder, the combat soldier and commander from the Givati Brigade, one of the three who just fell in Gaza, is the partner of my beloved daughter. Omer was the salt of the earth. A rare personality. Every encounter with him was filled with abundant goodness and joy, and brought endless happiness and love to the family. We all fell in love with him from the very first moment. Our hearts are broken.
The funeral is today at 16:00 on Mount Herzl.
Our hearts go out to the Baratz and Van Gelder families on this horrific loss.
Yesterday, we heard from David Sherez, who along with some colleagues, is founding a new political party known as “El Ha-Degel,” or To the Flag. We’ve already heard from a number of people interested in learning more about David and the work of El Ha-Degel, so here are some links:
The website of the El HaDegel party
El Ha-Degel on LinkedIn
A link to follow El Ha-Degel on various platforms and to hear about events
Share this post