Throughout this week, we have marked October 7. But the most terrible day of all is not over. Nor will it ever be.
There is no Israeli man or woman who has gone back to being who they were on October 6, 2023. TThere is no Jewish man or woman who was not shaken to their core. Yahya Sinwar murdered nearly 1,200 Israelis, ignited a war in which some 800 more Israelis were killed, tormented tens of thousands and wounded millions. Because of Hamas’ barbaric attack three years ago, an entire people suddenly rediscovered its fate.
October 7, 2023
( Photo: Hani Alshaer, AFP)
A strong, modern and prosperous country came face to face with its vulnerability. We all understood that we were targets. From then until now and forever, we know: They want to murder us. They really, truly seek to destroy us and wipe us out. We do not live in Manhattan or Amsterdam. We live on the front line of an existential struggle.
In the first decades of its existence, Israel knew it faced a constant existential threat. It therefore fashioned itself as a frontier democracy, a free yet mobilized society and a determined republic of progress, morality and strength. Precisely because it understood the brutality of the Middle East, the Zionist state was careful not to become part of the Middle East. It knew it had to preserve a democratic-liberal environment at home while standing as a fortress against the cruel environment outside.
That was the logic behind Dimona, the Air Force, a large reserve army and short, decisive wars. But in the 30 years preceding October 7, Israel ignored the reality of its own situation, lost sight of the challenges it faced and grew complacent. It became detached from history, from its geostrategic circumstances and from the tragedy of Jewish history, telling itself it was California. The startup nation believed economic and technological superiority could solve every problem.
It turned its back on the Middle East, integrated into the world and succumbed to hubris. Until suddenly, at 6:29 a.m., the Middle East walked down the paths of western Negev kibbutzim carrying assault rifles. Jihadist Islam seized parts of Be’eri, Kfar Aza and the Start-Up Nation. Had Hassan Nasrallah not hesitated, the Galilee would have been overrun that very day and the Third Commonwealth would have faced a genuine existential threat. Israel’s 21st-century loss of vision brought it to the brink of destruction.
That is why the most terrible day of all will never end. True, the IDF reversed the course of the war. The same national leadership and military establishment that had failed managed to lead a strong people and courageous fighters to remarkable achievements. Hamas was driven back, Hezbollah was battered and Iran was shaken. Yahya Sinwar, Hassan Nasrallah and Ali Khamenei are no longer with us.
The bleeding Israel of fall 2023 became a regional superpower that, in 2026, our neighbors fear and respect. But what we learned on October 7 is that the next October 7 will come. The Middle East will not leave us alone. Whether it comes from the north, south or east, we will be attacked again. Whether it comes a decade from now or a year from now, they will once again try to wipe us off the face of the earth.
Because that is our fate. That is the decree of our existence. As Jews in a Muslim region, as Israelis in an Arab region and as a democracy in a region of tyranny and violence, we will always live by the sword.
But the danger facing us is not only physical. It is also psychological, moral and cultural. Yahya Sinwar’s original plan failed. Hezbollah did not join the campaign with its full force, the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria did not rise up, Israeli Arabs did not betray the country and the Arab world did not erupt. The IDF recovered, Israeli society revealed its full greatness and the “spider web” theory was disproved.
But Sinwar’s grand strategic plan still threatens us. For the true objective of the tyrant from Gaza was threefold: to sever Israel from the West, drive Israel’s creative and Zionist elite out of the country and turn Israel into an inseparable part of the Middle East.
All three threats still confront us. While Israel prevailed in Khan Younis and Bint Jbeil, it lost ground in Washington and New York. We are more isolated than ever, more hated than ever and at risk of becoming pariahs.
At the same time, many of our best and brightest have their bags packed. If there is no change here after October 27, tens of thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands will emigrate. Meanwhile, the religious, force-driven mindset that has taken hold of Israeli consciousness threatens to turn us into part of the very same fanatical world we fear so deeply. After learning to speak Arabic during the war, our English is now in danger and our Hebrew has become distorted.
What David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol and Yitzhak Rabin did in the 1950s and 1960s, we must now do in a manner suited to the age of artificial intelligence.
Israel’s task, in the fourth year after the massacre, is therefore to rediscover the right balance. What David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol and Yitzhak Rabin did in the 1950s and 1960s, we must now do in a manner suited to the age of artificial intelligence.
Under no circumstances can we return to the blindness, the concept, the restraint and the containment. But neither can we turn into Masada or Gamla. We must not allow Yahya Sinwar to win from beyond the grave.
The imperative of October 7 is to understand the Israeli tragedy, realize Israel’s greatness and turn the Jewish state into a strong, united, democratic and unique model nation.