Israel needs leaders who can unite the nation, not deepen its divisions - opinion

NOVEMBER 14, 2026 17:10“Dei! Dei! Dei!” (Enough! Enough! Enough!”) The passionate voice of Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz rang out across the air waves of KAN Reshet Bet last Wednesday as she expressed her dismay at the polarization of the nation and the lack of statesmanship in the Knesset. As a former candidate for president who lost graciously to Isaac Herzog in July 2021, Peretz was among the guests at the opening session and swearing in ceremony of the 26th Knesset. It was there that she met Gadi Eisenkot, who will be the incoming prime minister if he succeeds in forming a government. The two have a lot in common. Both are of Moroccan background, are fervent Zionists; and are bereaved parents of soldier sons who fell in battle. But that was not what they talked about.When program anchor Esti Peretz Ben Ami asked her guest what they said to each other, the reply was that she had told him to remember that as prime minister he would be the leader of the nation and not just of a political party. She had also stressed the importance of all the members of his coalition speaking with one voice, and not being at odds with each other. But equally important, she told him that he should always think before making a statement, because anything that came out of his mouth would be remembered and he would be unable to retract.She also said that a way must be found to curb violence and to stop people from insulting each other.Herzog has been issuing a similar message throughout his tenure, and did so again on Tuesday, but the message has obviously fallen on deaf ears.The Knesset plenum is seen during the inaugural session of the 26th Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2026 (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)Outbursts on Tuesday by B’Yahad leader and former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, succeeded in putting a damper on the festivities of the occasion.Members of the Joint List walked out during the singing of the national anthem, while Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas stood respectfully, but did not sing. Nor did members of the haredi parties.Altering to national anthem to include all sectors of societySurely the lyrics of “Hatikvah” could be altered slightly to include all sectors of the population. After all, they were written some 70 years before the establishment of the state. But even if they are changed to make them acceptable to all the non-Jewish citizens of Israel, it will not alter the extreme anti-Arab attitudes of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who each malign the Arab community and give the green light to other right-wing politicians to do the same.Netanyahu is no less obsessed with hatred for the Arabs than he is with hatred for Iran.During the election campaigns, I advocated cessation of the Bibi-bashing, and I still think that criticism of his policies is much more important than criticism of the man himself. But the election is over, and it’s now legitimate to take off the gloves and look at the man whom many say is dangerous to the future of the country.How can someone so filled with hatred for the Arabs and for left-wing parties be the leader of the whole nation?The answer up till now, is simple. He didn’t let any other aspiring right wingers get in his way. Netanyahu is a master of spin and fake news, and at election time, he incites against the Arabs and the parties on the Left.There are some things that even the most intelligent of politicians and journalists refuse to understand. Even Herzog, who has condemned the harassment of and insults to members of Arab communities, could not resist during his consultations with the various factions, asking Abbas why he refuses to declare Hamas as a terrorist organization.How many more times does Abbas have to explain that to do so would endanger his life and those of members of his family? He stated many times that the attack against Israel was inhuman, but he had refrained from labeling Hamas as terrorists.Jews are no different from Arabs when it comes to protecting themselves and their loved ones.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, when interviewed on Wednesday by Ran Benyamini and Mazal Mualem, was asked whether the murder of 18 months-old infant Ali Dawabshe in 2015 was comparable in cruelty to what Hamas has done to Israelis. Smotrich was indignant, stating that there was no comparison and that Amiram Ben-Uliel, who had been sentenced to three life terms in prison plus 20 years for the arson attack in which other members of the infant’s family had been severely injured, had been wrongly convicted, and that a confession had been dragged out of him.There are Jewish terrorists, just as there are Arab terrorists. It’s only in recent years that Jews responsible for the killing of innocent people have been called terrorists instead of heroes by their own people. 2026, happens to be the 80th anniversary year of the bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem in which 28 British citizens, 41 Arabs and 17 Jews lost their lives. Many more were injured. The King David served as the headquarters of the British Mandate authorities, but also functioned as a hotel. The perpetrators of the bombing were Jews, not Arabs. It was not the only attack by Jewish underground organizations against both the British and the Arabs. The aim was to free what was then called Palestine, just as the Palestinians of today want to free what they call Palestine.One would think that Jews would be more understanding of this.Some are, but arguably, more are not.Former prime minister, defense minister, and chief of staff Ehud Barak, in a television interview approximately 30 years ago, said that if he were a Palestinian at the right age, he would have at some stage joined a terrorist organization.The cause is often more important than the label given to its activists.The same goes for the Jewish terrorists who are attacking Palestinians.They don’t see themselves as terrorists. As far as they are concerned, they are reclaiming the whole of the West Bank for Jewish settlement, which they see as a noble cause, just as Palestinians believe that reclamation from the river to the sea is their noble cause.Without compromise, the state of conflict will continue with a lose-lose situation. With compromise, it could be win-win for both.Follow us on Google