Why are Israelis uninterested in diplomatic debate?
Rocket fire from Gaza on southern towns has restarted already. Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises for creative diplomatic initiatives were not followed by action, and yet, the Israeli public seems unconcerned by the next conflict in Gaza.
On June 28, Zionist Camp officials traveled south to tour the localities surrounding Gaza and the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, marking the year anniversary of Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. That morning, the residents of the southern region experienced a red alert siren, warning them that a rocket had been fired at them from the Gaza Strip. Still, the charged meetings that party leader Isaac Herzog and his colleagues held with the residents were hardly covered by the media.
Instead, the news broadcasts that day dealt broadly with the looming natural gas agreement over resource distribution, which had brought thousands of people to the streets of Tel Aviv the night before for a demonstration protesting what they see as the government’s capitulation to the owners of the gas fields. The crisis over the high cost of housing and the school strike protesting classroom overcrowding captured more airtime. Even the economic drama taking place in Greece interested Israelis much more than discussing Operation Protective Edge, whose ramifications are critical for the future of their children and their grandchildren. This is all at a time when the security establishment increasingly estimates that the next round of fighting with Hamas is around the corner.
It was only a year ago that Israelis experienced the trauma of sirens and rocket warfare with Hamas, which lasted 50 days, took the lives of 72 soldiers and civilians, ruined summer vacation for towns in the south and the center of the country and caused massive economic damage to the market. Now it seems that most Israelis prefer to shut their eyes and instead discuss the distant troubles of the Greek people. Despite the renewal of rocket fire on southern localities, there was no demonstration on the streets of Tel Aviv protesting the feebleness of the government on the security front or the diplomatic paralysis. As if it were preordained, Israelis prefer to look away from the reality closing in on them and the reports that Hamas has returned to building tunnels and replenishing its stock of rockets. It seems that no one wishes to hold a real public debate on two questions: Can it be different? Is there an alternative?
In general, since the March 17 election, the battles between left and right have been marked mostly by culture wars, such as the ones sparked by Minister of Culture Miri Regev. The diplomatic debate is nonexistent, mostly because of the fact that it's not taking place even within the right-wing, ultra-Orthodox government Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu established, and also in light of the weak opposition, which has not succeeded in proposing an alternative diplomatic agenda.
