Everyone remembers the images. After every terrorist attack, before the dust even had a chance to settle, Itamar Ben-Gvir, then an MK in the opposition, would show up at the scene and slam the sitting government.
“Jewish blood has become worthless,” the now national security minister said back in March 2022 after five people were gunned down by a Palestinian terrorist in Bnei Brak. “Enough of this bloody government. [then-prime minister Naftali] Bennett needs to go home.”
Another example: Miri Regev, today the transportation minister, said after a deadly attack in Beersheba last year which killed four people, that the attack was “proof that the government is weak and has lost control over the Negev.”
Last April, Bezalel Smotrich – today the finance minister – offered his version: “After another bloody weekend we need to remember to thank Ayelet Shaked and the other members of Yamina who at least prevented a fifth election when they established a left-wing government with terrorist supporters.” Smotrich was referring to the presence of the Arab party Ra’am in the coalition.
And then there was Benjamin Netanyahu, at the time the opposition leader and now the prime minister. In September 2021, Netanyahu said that Bennett was too busy offering “gifts to the Palestinians” than keeping Israelis safe.
It is interesting to look back at these comments – made just a year ago – by members of the current coalition, particularly this week, after the attack in Huwara on Saturday, which killed a father and son, and the shooting on Monday which killed Batsheva Nigri, a mother of four.
Since the Netanyahu government took office at the end of December, 35 people have been killed in terrorist attacks. That is more than all of 2022 and there are still four months left until the end of the year.
This time, Ben-Gvir did not come to the scenes of the attacks, a custom he stopped early on in this government after he started to face criticism from the crowds that used to cheer him on. Smotrich and Regev were also surprisingly quiet after the attacks on Saturday and Monday, understanding that this time, they do not have anyone to blame but themselves.
And when someone in the coalition cannot hold back from the need to put the blame on someone else, there is always the IDF or Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who, even though he is from the Likud and is a member of the coalition, is an easy target to accuse of being weak in the war on terror.
Israeli politicians have no solutions to offer
THERE ARE two conclusions from this sad reality. The first is that the public should never really pay attention to what politicians say in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. While they will always send condolences to the bereaved and best wishes to the wounded, they will also almost always need to blame someone which is nothing more than political rhetoric. It is not meant to solve the problem but rather to use the blood that had been spilled to gain political benefit.
The second lesson is that, unfortunately, politicians do not really have solutions to offer the public. That is why they search for someone else to blame. If there was a solution, they would have to act and make decisions and then be held accountable for them. It is much easier to simply pass on the blame and let someone else take the fall.
It was enough to listen to minister Orit Struck on Monday after the murder south of Hebron. The problem, she explained, was the fact that the army has allowed a key junction in the area to remain open to Palestinian traffic. Israel needs to close the junction, she explained, and that will help restore security.
If it were only that simple. Even Struck knows that closing one junction is not what will stop a future attacker. They will simply drive to another road or choose another target. The fact is that the attacks, which had been mostly focused on the northern Samaria area of Nablus and Jenin, are now moving into the area of Hebron, one of the biggest Palestinian cities in the West Bank, and a known Hamas stronghold.
While this government might be unique in the way its ministers do everything they can to avoid responsibility, this is not a unique trait to previous governments that have been here in recent years.
On the Palestinian front, there has not been a serious initiative to genuinely try and change the situation for almost 20 years now. The freeze in 2010, the release of prisoners in 2014, and the Trump peace plan were just tactical moves on the chessboard. Nothing fundamental.
And while Israel is not alone here – the Palestinian intransigence is the biggest obstacle to peace – the idea that we are dependent on someone else to decide what is in our best interest is also fundamentally flawed.
BUT THESE are tough issues to talk about. They require forward-thinking, big decisions, and political gambles. It is much easier to close a junction with a checkpoint, and far simpler to show up at the scene of an attack and blame the previous government, than to present the public with a real plan that is meant to really change the paradigm.
A similar situation is playing out within Israel. The quadruple murder in the northern Israeli-Arab town of Abu Snan on Tuesday, which was just a day after the director general of the Tira municipality was gunned down, is another illustration of the complete lack of control today in Israel. According to the Abraham Initiatives, 156 Arabs have been killed since the beginning of 2023 in comparison to 68 by this time last year.
But instead of having a real conversation about the issues that are causing this bloodshed, government ministers like Ben-Gvir call for Band-Aid-like solutions, such as getting the Shin Bet to operate in the Israeli-Arab sector, at a time when the security agency is already stretched thin fighting its main focus – Palestinian terrorism.
And then there was Smotrich’s announcement earlier this month that he is withholding NIS 500 million in state funds from Arab municipalities and east Jerusalem. While this might get him a few more votes among his right-wing constituents, is that really the solution to the corruption that has existed in the Arab sector for decades? Do decisions like this make Israeli-Arabs feel part of the country or do they feel further disenfranchised?
Comprehensive plans are required that need to look at issues holistically. Another checkpoint is not a solution and having the Shin Bet investigate a few murders in the Arab sector will not stop this unprecedented murder wave of Israeli citizens. The government needs to get serious about the immense challenges that Israel is facing. Blame and Band-Aids will not be enough.
The writer is immediate past editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.