Back to October 6? - analysis

The images Saturday night from Tel Aviv of protesters blocking traffic and police using water cannons to disperse them are “oh so October 6.”

Which is why those images are so jarring.

The state commission of inquiry that will inevitably be established after the Gaza war to investigate what led to the colossal failure of October 7 will – among other issues – look at the rampant disunity that prevailed at the time and what signal this sent to Israel’s enemies.

Many warned that the unprecedented divisions resulting from the judicial reform debate at the time would eventually lead Israel’s enemies to conclude that now was the time to pounce. And pounce they did.

Ever since Hamas struck, bereaved family members speaking at funerals of those killed on October 7 or of soldiers who fell since then, as well as returning reservists from Gaza and wounded soldiers, have all warned in media interviews that Israel cannot – dare not – return to the toxic atmosphere of October 6: the vitriolic rhetoric, the clashes on the streets, and the overall atmosphere of disunity and even hatred.

Yet, on Saturday night, it all seemed to be starting again.

Soldiers are still being killed regularly in Gaza, Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages, and yet again, police and protesters violently clashed on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv as if October 7 had never happened. Again, the divisive rhetoric of politicians fills the airwaves; again, Ehud Barak is calling for the public to march on the Knesset.

Déjà vu.

Difference in numbers 

Except for one thing: the numbers. There were not tens of thousands of protesters on the streets on Saturday night, but rather, a few scattered thousands. The masses are not – at least not yet – willing to fall back on old ways.

The masses, it seems, are deterred from taking to the streets while soldiers are still falling in Gaza. It’s a bad look.Everyone needs to draw conclusions from what happened Saturday night in Tel Aviv – not only the demonstrators and police, who both need to behave responsibly – given the country’s current condition. This isn’t the time to block main traffic arteries, nor is it the time to turn high-powered water cannons on protesters – including one woman who returned from captivity in Gaza and reservists who were recently released from duty.

The conclusion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be wise to draw from Saturday night is that a turning point has been reached; something has changed. October 7 traumatized the country, and a traumatized nation – including many who feel betrayed by the government – deserves to have its voice heard. It is not unreasonable in a parliamentary democracy such as Israel’s to expect, or even demand, that when an event of the magnitude of October 7 happens, new elections will be held.

During the brouhaha over the judicial reform debate, one common refrain from the Likud and government officials was that they had received a mandate to govern. They did. But following the colossal failures of October 7, to merit the trust and confidence of the nation, that mandate needs to be renewed. The government cannot continue functioning as if nothing happened and as if it can continue until its term formally ends in 2026.An Israel Democracy Institute poll earlier this month found that 71% of the public wants to see the elections moved up. The question is when and how.

Optimally, Netanyahu should get together with the opposition parties and agree on a date. This date could be at the end of the war, the end of the year, or the beginning of the next year. The actual date is less important – what is essential is that a date be set, something that would keep protests such as the one Saturday night from recurring and swelling. While at war, the country cannot afford the anger, disunity, and turbulence these protests will engender.

At the same time, the opposition leaders and heads of the various protest groups should pledge that after the elections are held, they will honor the results. They should make clear that if they lose, and a coalition emerges that is not to their liking, they will not take to the streets to paralyze the nation.

Certain rules of the game need to be honored, foremost among them being that once the people have spoken in an open and free election, their voice will be respected – even if it is not to everyone’s liking. While this seems to be a no-brainer, it is not.

The war has pushed down in our collective memory the spiral of election after inconclusive election that Israel entered in 2019 and continued for five election cycles.

Finally, in 2021, the elections yielded a result that produced a government: the government of Naftali Bennett. No sooner had that government been sworn in than it was deemed illegitimate by the opposition led by Netanyahu, which did everything – including hounding coalition MKs in their homes – to bring it down.

But everything that goes around comes around, and a year later, Netanyahu won an election, but he, too, was unable to govern as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.

What good are elections, however, if they do not yield a result that all sides say they will honor?Speakers at the demonstration Saturday night in Tel Aviv called for new elections and for the government to be swept away. That’s understandable. But what happens if the next election also results in a decision they don’t like?

Will they block Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv again every Saturday night and say the government is illegitimate?

Elections need to be held as a result of October 7. But once they are held, the results must be respected, and the country allowed to function.

While this is true in the best of times, it is even more true today, when fierce demonstrations in the street can have a demoralizing effect on the troops in Gaza, Judea, Samaria, and the northern border – and also when these demonstrations may be viewed by the enemy not as an illustration of the strength of Israel’s democracy, but rather, as a weakness and sign of a lack of resolve.

Protests and demonstrations are fundamental rights in all democratic societies that must be jealously protected. In times like these, however, all sides – the Left, the Right, and the police – must act responsibly and with care, with more responsibly and with greater care than they demonstrated before October 7.•