On October 7, that black Sabbath, we lost faith. In the prime minister, in government, in the army. But in the last three weeks some of that trust has been restored, and a different sort of trust has emerged. Trust in the Israeli other. A new faith is springing up with extraordinary force: faith in ourselves – ordinary Israelis – and in our ability to take our destiny into our own hands and make a better future.
There is no Israeli who hasn’t woken up every morning since October 7 with the horror top of mind, who hasn’t wondered whether it really happened or was just a nightmare. The photographs, the first-hand accounts, and the media reports of what happened that Shabbat and in the days that followed are still very hard to grasp. Along with the great loss of the murdered and those abducted to Gaza, a great many Israelis lost confidence. Confidence in the army that was supposed to protect them. Confidence in the government and their leaders, who were supposed to safeguard the lives of Israeli citizens and failed at it so dramatically.
Despite the gravity of the current situation, and the rifts that have deepened within Israeli society since a new government took office last January, this crisis has brought out the best in almost each and every one of us. There is virtually no challenge, hardship, or lack that has not been addressed with big-hearted goodwill and striking competence by our civil-society organizations and by ordinary citizens who simply and generously mobilized themselves to help.
They have provided the displaced and traumatized refugees of the destroyed southern communities with housing, personal supplies, and food. They have provided assistance in locating missing persons and abductees. They have provided vital equipment for soldiers called up for duty. They have provided psychological assistance and social services for the injured in hospitals, and aid to the families of the murdered. They have provided help for the wives of reserve soldiers who’ve remained home alone, and taken part in Israeli public advocacy (hasbara) abroad, and much more. They have come through.
Israeli television is full of stories about these wonderful initiatives; the social networks are abuzz with the strong desire to give, to volunteer, to help. In this most terrible time, the spirit of generosity has soared, injecting a modicum of beauty amid all the ugliness. Indeed, the people of Israel believe in themselves, and at an amazing rate: 96% of Israelis trust the grassroots volunteer organizations that have sprung up to pitch in.
Equally interesting is the trust Israelis have in the army. Despite the IDF’s abysmal failure to protect the country’s southern border, its commanders still have the trust of 75% of Israelis when it comes to fighting the war. Perhaps this is due to the heroism and determined fighting they displayed after the Hamas terrorists managed to carry out part of their plan. And the public’s trust in the IDF’s regular soldiers is even higher, reaching the phenomenal level of 98%. Probably because they are our fathers, our daughters, the brothers of all of us.
Against the horrors of this war, our faith in other Israelis, in people, also translates into a greater sense of unity. After months of political-social strife that had torn us apart, in the face of our common enemy, our willingness to give to one another, regardless of political or sectoral affiliation, has blossomed: 82% of Israelis now think that Israeli society is quite or very united.
The Israeli spirit, the strength within each one of us, the desire and the ability of so many to give of themselves to others, or to enlist and serve in this war for our home, has reinforced the realization that we, “ordinary” Israelis who aren’t public office-holders, who bear no duty of office, are the ones capable of making Israel what it can be. Not divided along party lines. Not split over the July reforms. An Israel of brotherhood. Of people who believe in the Israeliness within us. In the face of this disaster, which will be branded in our flesh for generations to come, it will be of some solace if we can also store up, for the day after the war, this faith in ourselves. The Israeli spirit.
Dr. Shuki Friedman is Vice President of the Jewish People Policy Institute and a lecturer in law at the Peres Academic Center.