CrossFireArabia
Israeli writer Dror Raphael presents a bleak vision of the future of Israel. In an article published in Maariv newspaper, almost a year after the events of 7 October and the start pf the “Al-Aqsa Flood”, he stresses that “every Israeli has been walking around with a black hole in his heart for a year now.”
He explains there is no need to remind Israelis of what they are going through, because they live with pain and losses daily. The displaced (in the north and south) are still far from their homes, the prisoners are still in the tunnels of the Gaza Strip, and the pain of the dead does not subside.
“Every Israeli has been walking around with a black hole in his heart for a year now,” referring to the role of social media, such as the famous Israeli account on X “News from last year”, which republishes newspaper headlines that predicted the crisis before it happened, he added.
He pointed out it was clear to everyone that Israel was heading towards disaster, but the leaders were busy with the “legal revolution”, unaware of the looming danger, noting that “the most common greeting these days is ‘the return of the kidnapped’ and the expression of negativity and pessimism.”
The writer expresses his disappointment with the political and social situation in Israel, considering that “the assumption of responsibility and other values that the Israelis believed they lived by turned out to be illusions,” noting in particular that “the government investigation committee, which was supposed to be established automatically after the attacks of 7 October, has become almost illegitimate.”
He believes that the young Israeli generation is suffering from a state of despair, and sites what former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said during World War II, expressing his hope that Israel would receive promises of “blood, sweat and tears” as Churchill promised his people, and says that “the reality indicates that we are facing a decade of death and wars with no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Titanic and Ice
Raphael sees that Israel is facing a “decade of death, pain and war” without clear leadership or vision to get out of this dark tunnel, likening the situation in Israel to the Titanic that is hurtling towards an iceberg.
The writer highlights the political situation in Israel, pointing to the extreme composition of the government, criticizing the leaders and officials, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the heads of the army and intelligence, describing them as “short-sighted, arrogant, boasting about Israel’s strength and deterrence without actually understanding what is happening.”
The writer points to the division in Israel and its future impact, saying, “people between the ages of 40 and 50 feel disgusted with the Knesset and the government, and therefore hesitate to participate in leadership.
The writer refers to the phenomenon of reverse migration among Israelis due to despair over the conditions in Israel, and said, “those born last year will live in another, different and colder country, a country whose citizens vowed not to leave, but have already established colonies in Cyprus, Thailand or Puerto Rico on the Atlantic coast.”
While the writer tries to alleviate the “gloomy picture” by referring to the young soldiers who he said are “fighting to repair the country that collapsed,” he concludes by directing a question to future generations: “How did they not see this happening? How did they not know? How did they not prevent or warn? And most importantly, how were they not ashamed?”
