“I woke up at dawn to the sound of the siren. “Missile alert,” I thought. And I turned away: “The Iron Dome batteries will take care of it.” However, my wife threw me out of bed: “Let’s go to the shelter, get up,” she urged me. Little did we know that at that moment a group of Hamas terrorists was advancing on foot into southern Israel and that an unprecedented catastrophe was being prepared for our country.”
Etgar Keret is one of the Jewish state’s most famous writers. He answers the phone from his home in Tel Aviv. He is still shaken: it was a difficult day, the intrusion of an unimaginable reality into the lives of Israelis. “During the Yom Kippur War in 1973 – says Keret – we were surprised by two of the most powerful armies in the Middle East, the Egyptian and the Syrian. It was a national shock. But never like this: then no city, no village was conquered by enemies. This hasn’t happened since 1948. Yesterday, however, Israeli civilians fought for their lives for hours, waiting in vain for the soldiers, while entire families, elderly people and children were attacked or kidnapped by a few dozen militiamen arriving from Gaza.
What didn’t work?
“Nothing. It was a predicted disaster. How else could one define the abduction of elderly citizens who were transported away with their Filipino caregivers in tow?”
Why was Israel surprised?
“Since the formation of the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-wing government with extremist and irresponsible ministers, the military leaders have repeatedly warned politicians that their decisions are endangering the state of the institutions.”
What are you talking about?
“The first thought is to introduce judicial reform that affects the independence of the Supreme Court, with the aim of saving the Prime Minister.” What has happened in the last few months is in plain sight. But it is only part of the problem that has arisen in the country, where those who took to the streets to defend the system were labeled “traitors” and “enemies of the state,” including the military who felt framed with one’s back to the wall”.
What does he mean?
“Entire battalions were deployed to defend a group of extremist settlers who wanted to provoke the Palestinians in the areas – for example in Huwara. Decision that has plunged Gaza’s ability to respond into crisis.”
How will Israel react?
“The country is in a state of collective distrust. The first alarm sounded when the government took office and announced divisive reforms. Now the second shock, terrible and bloody. I’ll be honest: I’m afraid for the future. Also because we live in this region. Hamas’ actions are not random. They are bringing the peace process with the Saudis into a crisis: We know that a lot depends on the concessions to the Palestinians, which Netanyahu can now give up without any problems.”
And then?
“And then they dramatically highlighted the incompetence of certain figures in the executive branch, I am referring to ministers like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, religious extremists who have never served in the military and are incapable of understanding reality.”
Israel is more than that…
“Naturally. But would you go to war for a state whose leaders disappeared in its hour of need? Netanyahu took hours to address the nation. And meanwhile the Israelis were dying in the streets.”