If we don't come to our senses – we will have a civil war here. We must not obscure the truth.
There are wonderful people among us, heroes – the regular IDF soldiers who continue to mobilize for every mission, the reservists who return and show up again and again. Volunteers and organizations who jump into action without asking questions, starting from October 7th. But we also have a leadership that is inciting us against each other, social networks that are poisoning the well from which we drink.
What does a civil war look like? Fighting over prayer in a public space, instead of finding solutions that will respect each one of us. When the IDF is fighting the enemy and Knesset members are leading a break-in into military bases.
A civil war is when a crowd threatens to breach the security circle around the Prime Minister's house and social networks call him a "tyrant.”
While our soldiers are giving up their lives for us – there are those who call out: "We will die and we will not draft," under the auspices of sectoral leadership.
This civil war, when the dignity of bereaved parents and hostage families has been cheapened. When loyal civil servants are branded as traitors.
We have crossed the threshold of verbal and physical violence. It will end in murder. No sweet slogans of “baseless love” will make reality look any more beautiful. We didn't learn the lesson from October 7th. We didn't internalize the lesson from Tisha B'av.
This is a wake-up call. This is a clear warning. We cannot say that we did not know. We cannot claim that we were not informed. The patriotic Israeli majority must stop the hatred and make amends. We must put those who are tearing us apart from the inside outside the fence. Isolate the extremists who thrive on hatred between us.
At the moment of his most difficult test, Menachem Begin called out: "No to civil war," because he understood the magnitude of the establishment of the state. But we all know that Benjamin Netanyahu will not be Menachem Begin. He will not deactivate the poison machine. He will not sacrifice his government to protect his people. He will not do what is necessary to prevent civil war. But the patriotic majority will.
It is time to make amends. Tonight is Tisha B'Av, the day we remember the destruction of our Holy Temple, that fell because of hatred among the Jewish People. Tonight we will call out with more strength than all the addicts of hate together. Yes, to agreements. No to violence. Yes to purposeful arguments. No to entrenching ourselves in our stubborn positions. We are facing enormous challenges against our enemy. We must prevent a civil war between us. It's in our hands.