Secular Israelis Feel Lost in Their Own Nation
The growing schism must be approached with a political culture of mercy and compassion, though it is unclear who is capable of doing so.
Somewhere between secular radicalism, the religious strengthening in Israel, the rise of right-wing discourse on social media, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to fuse all these into a socio-political coalition hollowed of idealism, in the same cynical manner the post-Zionist Left began to do in the 1970s, stands the State of Israel.
The centers of power and the national "cake" have been sliced up: the Judea and Samaria for the religious, the Supreme Court for the secularists, the government for the party hacks, the courts for the thieves, and the banks for the well-connected. Yet, out of all this, in an almost miraculous fashion, Israel somehow manages to wage a multi-front war while continuing to prosper.
And yet, we have seen this before. In the early 2000s, there was a centrist-liberal party called Shinui (Change). Later came its advanced evolution in the form of Ariel Sharon’s socio-political gamble on the Kadima party. Netanyahu, having failed to sweep the secular-center coalition, doubled down on a gamble of his own: this current right-wing religious coalition after October 7th, he had no mother choice.
The trends, then, were always there.
The secular-religious divide, which historically centered on questions of land and policy, is undergoing a historical shift. Even secular right-wing Zionist forces can no longer find their place, just as moderate left-wing forces once lost theirs and crossed the aisle to the center.
This deep fracture is causing not only a division but a remaking of the entire governmental and political field of reference.
Many people do not recognize the country they grew up in, and perhaps this is exactly what the rising forces seek to ensure.
The problem is, that just like the left, ran over the right during the Oslo accords period. There's a fear the same will happen again from the other direction. It's time to sir down and talk, see the mutual interests and come together.
The growing schism must be approached with a political culture of mercy and compassion, though it is unclear who is capable of doing so. For this year, one did not see many Israeli flags in the streets of the country on independence day.
Not even at the airport's duty free.