Drawing conclusions from the war

A small change came about in this current war: The willingness and sacrifice of that very same nation was served to the government of that very same Jewish state, however, the government spilled the contents of that silver platter on the floor.

But who are we to complain? Similar to the IDF, Israeli citizens were also caught unprepared. We should have known that throughout the past six years the government barricaded itself, and that its ideology would continue more fervently into the war. If ordinarily, the government is indecisive, it was all the more so during wartime. If ordinarily it neglects its poor, elderly and the sick - who in turn seek the mercy of charitable organizations – then why should anything change during wartime?

Benjamin Netanyahu, of all people, gave us a reason to smile this week, when he joined the criticism against the government. This very leadership emerged from his own economic policies. The young, the healthy and those with financial means – could have evacuated themselves during the war. The sick, the elderly and the poor sat in the bombed shelters or could have turned to a charitable organization. And what about those military units? They too were forced to recruit funds to buy food, petrol and basic combat equipment.

Taking care of personal matters before the next war

 We are all learning our lessons. We explain to each other who and what went wrong, what's still okay and what's not. Who should be shown the door and who should stay. What happened and what's still in store. However, such matters are debated within the government and defense establishments. I suggest readers also learn a more personal lesson ahead of the next war.

These are not profound lessons. The majority of readers do not mobilize troops, they don't send emergency call ups and don't dispatch special units on operations behind enemy lines, and they don't talk with Condoleezza Rice. However, we all have our own personal hide, and needless to say we have an interest in protecting it. And since the government has proven in every possible way that it is not interested in our personal wellbeing – and this too applies to peacetime as well as wartime – it's essential that we too think a little about our family's and our personal wellbeing. We owe it to ourselves.

I won't write the obvious here, namely, that each citizen should assure he has a gas mask and a well equipped bomb shelter. However, I dare propose some other ideas, such a planting tomato and pepper seeds in window boxes, or on balconies for example, and if the reader has a garden, he or she should keep a goat, a few fruit trees and a small chicken hatch, and if you don't keep kosher – I suggest you keep a rabbit cage in the middle of your living room as well.

Besides rabbits and chickens, I also propose securing arms, such as landmines and shoulder missiles, because there's no reason to assume that the police force will protect us during war more than it does during peacetime, and someone may very well feel inclined to steal our goat.

The time is also ripe to purchase a small generator and an all terrain vehicle. They will require a modest stock of petrol of course, but as we're already there, I'll also suggest you memorize an escape route, and prepare caches and underground hide outs along the route.

However, before we immerse ourselves too deeply in this apocalyptic vision, I suggest remembering a few simple points as well: Prepare a list of all the charitable organizations in Israel, and in parallel – remember all those long lost friends and relatives in Jerusalem and start sending them little gifts on a regular basis.

One more comment

The President of Israel was highly commended this week for cooperating fully with police investigators, and particularly for his willingness to continue the investigation long after its due date. There's no need to get excited. He simply expected reenactment to follow the questioning phase.