The Blogs: 'Dayenu': The lesson of this election | Donniel Hartman

In an opinion piece, Rabbi Donniel Hartman argues that the election results show no camp achieved 'complete victory,' and calls on Israelis to embrace the Jewish concept of 'Dayenu' — accepting partial fulfillment — to avoid civil war. He urges defining realistic red lines for coexistence with Arab Palestinian citizens and Haredim, and questions whether Netanyahu must remain a red line.

In an opinion piece for The Times of Israel, Rabbi Donniel Hartman argues that the recent Israeli election results demonstrate that no camp achieved 'complete victory,' a slogan used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the war against Hamas and adopted by all sides. Hartman writes that months of polls forecasting a stalemate did not shake voters' convictions, and now society is unprepared for the reality of a divided outcome. He invokes the Jewish song 'Dayenu' ('it would have been enough') as a historical guide for accepting partial fulfillment and avoiding despair or civil war. Hartman calls on Israelis to define realistic red lines and acceptable compromises rather than clinging to maximalist goals. He poses specific questions for the liberal Zionist camp: whether it can accept that Arab Palestinian citizens reject the Gaza war but condemn Hamas, and whether it can share a coalition with those who oppose a two-state solution. He also questions his own red line regarding Netanyahu, acknowledging that over a million Israelis still trust him despite crossing many of the author's own red lines. Hartman concludes that if every position is sacred and every compromise a desecration, there is no future.