It is the last week of 2019 and it seems we're all fighting for survival, because while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struggles to gain immunity against severe criminal charges through political and judicial maneuvering, the people for whom he is purportedly responsible are fighting for their very lives facing a strain of the flu that has already proven deadly.
If there were ever any similarity between Netanyahu's struggle and our own, this where it ends.
While Netanyahu enjoys the privilege of having countless professionals at his beck and call, working night and day to guarantee he gets his immunity, the people are left exposed and alone.
The poor state of Israel's public health system is a widely known fact. Combine that with a dramatic rise in the number of sick people in winter, plus the fact that there is no financial aid to be had due to the lack of government, and the situation worsens dramatically.
The country's hospitals are full to the brim, health maintenance organizations are collapsing under massive deficits, and still no public figure has stood up to aid the common people's fight for survival.
The political turmoil has effectively ground every domain in Israel to a halt, revealing the gap between the people and those wishing to lead it.
While Netanyahu and those who oppose him are busy planning their election campaigns for the third round of voting in less than a year, we're busy surviving the slings and arrows of everyday life.
While we struggle for our right to the basest of benefits from a crumbling health care system, our politicians prefer to devote themselves to Netanyahu's personal fight for survival.
The blame for the chaos rampaging through the country's health care system doesn't lay solely at the feet of our publicly elected officials.
Those responsible for Israel's finances seem far more dedicated to preserving the country's coffers than the well-being of its people. If they truly believe that it's legitimate to underfund such a critical and important part of the country, they're either stupid, sadists or both.
The Health Ministry managers who seem to cry out only when things gets really bad, are also to blame, as the news of an exceedingly aggressive kind of flu coming from Australia surfaced all the way back in April.
In the eight months since April, the Health Ministry should have prepared better for the worsening situation in Israel.
And finally, the public carries part of the responsibility for the flu epidemic, because even though the importance of getting vaccinated has been frequently mentioned, only 20 percent of the population has actually done so.
Every year the Health Ministry announces it has destroyed tens of thousands of unused vaccines, and this year is no different.
In retrospect, we should follow the example of our prime minister and take care of ourselves first and foremost.
Immunity - in all of its forms - must take precedence.
First published: 23:42, 12.30.19