The author is the author of the following works ‘More than I love my life.” Winner of the 2017 Man Booker International Prize and the 2018 Israel Prize
Translated by Jessica Cohen
About 1,000 people died, more than 3,000 were injured, and dozens were taken hostage. Each survivor is a miraculous story of resourcefulness and bravery. Countless miracles, countless heroism and sacrifices by soldiers and civilians.
I looked at people’s faces and saw shock. numbness. Our hearts are weighed down by a constant weight. We said to each other over and over again: This is a nightmare. An unparalleled nightmare. There are no words to describe it. No words can contain it.
I also saw a deep sense of betrayal. A betrayal of citizens by the government – the prime minister and his destructive alliance.A betrayal of everything we hold dear as citizens, especially as citizens this state. Betraying its formative and binding ideals. The most precious treasure—the home of the Jewish people—had been entrusted to the protection of its leaders, who should have treated it with reverence. But instead, what do we see? What have we become accustomed to seeing as if it were inevitable? What we are seeing is a complete abandonment of the country in favor of petty, greedy agendas and cynical, petty, insane politics.
What is happening now is the concrete price Israel has paid for years of being seduced by corrupt leadership, which has led to Israel’s deterioration; to save his prime minister from jail.
Now think about our collaboration over the years. Think of all the energy, thought and money we have wasted watching Netanyahu and his family play out Ceausescu-style drama. Think of the bizarre illusions they create for our incredible eyes.
For the past nine months, millions of Israelis have taken to the streets every week to protest against the government and its leaders. It is a monumental movement that seeks to get Israel back on track and back to the noble ideals at the root of its existence: creating a home for the Jewish people. Not just any home. Millions of Israelis want a free, democratic, peace-loving country that respects all faiths. But instead of listening to the protest movement, Netanyahu has chosen to denigrate it, portraying it as traitors, inciting against it and deepening the hatred among its members. Yet he took every opportunity to declare how strong Israel was, how determined it was and, most importantly, how well-prepared it was to deal with any threat.
Tell it to the grieving parents, tell it to the babies left on the side of the road. Tell the hostages this. Tell those who voted for you. Tell us that the world’s most advanced border fence has 80 gaps.
But make no mistake, and make no confusion: Despite the anger at Netanyahu, his people and his policies, the horrors of the past few days were not caused by Israel. This is the influence of Hamas. Occupation is a crime, but to shoot hundreds of civilians in cold blood – children and parents, the elderly and the sick – is a far worse crime. Even within the hierarchy of evil, there is a “ranking.” Common sense and natural instinct can discern severity. When you see the killing fields at a music festival, when you see Hamas terrorists chasing young partygoers on motorcycles, some of them still dancing, not realizing what’s going on. . .
I don’t know if Hamas elements should be called “animals,” but they have certainly lost their humanity.
We spend these days and nights like sleepwalkers. Try to resist the temptation to watch horror clips and listen to rumors. For the first time in 50 years since the Yom Kippur War, the terrifying prospect of defeat was felt.
Who will we be when we rise from the ashes and reenter our lives? As we viscerally feel the pain of what author Haim Gouri wrote during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, “How many are no longer with us.” After seeing what we have seen, we Who will we become, who will we become? After the destruction and loss of so much of what we believed and trusted, where do we begin?
If I could hazard a guess: postwar Israel will become even more right-wing, militant, and racist. A war imposed on Israel will solidify the most extreme and hateful stereotypes and prejudices that have formed and will continue to form even more firmly the identity of Israel. From now on, this identity will also reflect the trauma of October 2023, as well as the polarization and internal rifts.
Is it possible that what was lost on October 7th – or suspended indefinitely – was the slim chance of real dialogue, where each country truly accepts the other’s existence? What do those who brandish the absurd concept of “two states” say now? Israel and Palestine, two countries distorted and corrupted by endless wars, cannot even be each other’s cousins - does anyone still believe that they can be conjoined twins? Many more war-free years would have to pass before acceptance and healing could be considered. At the same time, we can only imagine the magnitude of the fear and hatred now coming to the surface. I hope, I pray, that Palestinians in the West Bank, as much as they hate their occupier Israel, will differentiate themselves through actions or words from what their fellow citizens are doing. As an Israeli, I have no right to preach to them or tell them what to do. But as a human being, I have the right—and the obligation—to demand that they behave humanely and ethically.
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Late last month, U.S., Israeli and Saudi leaders spoke enthusiastically of a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would build on Israel’s normalization deals with Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Palestinians have had little involvement in these agreements. In his words, the arrogant and confident Netanyahu has managed to sever the link between the Palestinian issue and Israel’s relations with Arab states. The agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not unrelated to the “Black Saturday” events between Gaza and Israel. The peace it creates is the peace of the rich. This is the core of trying to skip the conflict. The past few days have proven that it is impossible to begin to address the tragedy of the Middle East without providing solutions that alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.
Do we have the ability to break away from old formulas and understand that what is going on here is too big and too terrible to be seen through old paradigms? Not even 56 years of Israeli behavior and crimes in the occupied territories can prove or soften what has been revealed: the deep hatred for Israel, the painful realization that we Israelis must always live here with heightened vigilance and constant readiness for war. Continuously strive to be Athens and Sparta at the same time. and fundamental doubts about our ability to live normal, free lives, free from threats and anxiety. A stable and safe life. A life where home is home.
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