I saw a Facebook ad this week putting a house in Misgav up for sale, near the Lebanon border, priced at 2.8 million shekels ($833,000). The comments below were a spectacle. One wrote, “No one will pay you.” Another claimed, “There’s a Radwan tunnel under your living room.” A third remarked, “I can’t understand why you’re there.”
Someone asked if the property could house horses. “Giraffes,” another quipped. “Zebras, per the Las Vegas Convention,” joked a third. Predictably, counterattacks followed: “Disgusting comments,” or “Jealous people who can’t cheer success.”
The seller is just trying to sell a house—why the fight? Ask about bedrooms or negotiate the price, but no. Most weren’t interested in the property; they came to bicker, some even attaching maps to argue the house’s proximity to Hezbollah.
Israelis have a unique talent for arguing, honed over the past two years into a professional art. Give us any issue—a politician’s scandal, a bizarre home demolition in Holon—and we’ll dive in.
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It doesn’t need to be profound, nor do the arguments. What matters is landing blows on the opponent, labeling them a fraud, aggressor or partisan. As troubles mount, we’ve perfected this skill, splitting into tribes over any topic.
We’ve become a startup of disputes, a nation unafraid of any quarrel. There’s a positive side: we’re engaged, informed, passionate and ideological. When arguments stay civil, growth is possible. Yet the current government thrives on this division, unable to manage simple tasks but excelling at fueling debates.
No issue is too clear for them to spin an absurd counter-narrative. The greatest disaster in Israel’s history? “It prevented a worse one,” they’ll claim. Qatari funds or leaks to Germany's Bild at the hostages’ expense? “We’re protecting persecuted heroes,” they’ll say, sparking endless debate.
Good and evil no longer exist in our world, nor does consensus. If Aharon Barak deemed everything justiciable, Benjamin Netanyahu made everything debatable, turning disputes into a national pastime.
So it was odd when the government delayed discussing the attorney general’s dismissal until after Tisha B’Av to avoid stoking division. These are the experts in division, yet they’re denying us a good fight? We’re a nation fulfilling its argumentative destiny, thriving in it.
But as Tisha B’Av approaches, the period of mourning reminds us that baseless hatred has never strengthened us. Perhaps we could try differently—not arguing, or just picking one less fight. It might feel good, maybe even worth continuing. Shall we try? Someone’s selling a house in Misgav for 2.8 million shekels. Discuss.