The State of Israel Flees from a Revelation: How Did We Turn War into Routine?

The column argues that Israel has become addicted to a continuous state of war, lasting nearly three years, and has turned it into routine. The author criticizes the political system, the opposition, and the media for failing to ask hard questions, and points to the normalization of a distorted reality, including dropping out of military service and neglect of civilian infrastructure.

The column, by a commentator on Walla, argues that Israel has become addicted to a continuous state of war, lasting nearly three years, and has turned it into routine. The author opens with the example of Eviatar Kahana, a reserve officer and reality show participant, who testifies that it is easier for him to cope with war traumas in the reserves than in civilian life. From there, he expands to a national claim: Israeli citizens have normalized an endless war, interrupted only by 'pauses between rounds.' He criticizes the political system, which uses the war as an excuse to postpone soul-searching and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, and the opposition, which avoids talking about ending the fighting through an agreement for fear of being seen as defeatist. The media, he says, also fails in its role: instead of asking hard questions, it salutes soldiers and sanctifies the memory of the fallen. The author points to the normalization of a distorted reality: the IDF, 'the strongest in the Middle East,' cannot defeat a terrorist organization; soldiers in Lebanon have become targets for drones; tourism in the north is paralyzed; and there are frequent runs to safe rooms. He adds a statistic: more than half of candidates for security service do not enlist, and most enlistees serve in non-combat units, so the burden falls on a minority. He calls for soul-searching and asking hard questions, even at the cost of harming the ethos.