The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing the IDF Sukkah / Tamir Hayman and Ofer Shelah
The Sukkot festival of the Jewish calendar year 5784 finds the IDF sukkah on shakier ground than ever. The military and its commanders are at the center of Israel’s internal dispute, and as such, regular and reserve service, which is a value as well as a tangible asset, is pitted against a political echelon that is alienated from the IDF and wages unprecedented attacks on its leadership. All this is compounded by questions of IDF fitness, raised by the decision of thousands of reservists to suspend their voluntary service in protest over the judicial overhaul.
Four elements can stabilize the IDF sukkah, given the increasing risk of complex and difficult multi-arena hostilities:
- Unequivocal support from the political level: Attacks on senior figures in the IDF and the security agencies must cease immediately. There should be an open, honest, and candid dialogue about the military challenges ahead, and a proper system set up for decision making and support.
- Renewed public legitimacy: That the IDF has become the main battlefield in the political debate is an intolerable situation that must be eliminated, and there should be renewed public support for IDF conscription and volunteerism for meaningful service in its ranks.
- Greater readiness for the multi-front challenge: Long-postponed decisions must be taken about the role and future of ground forces in the anticipated conflict space, with resources invested in updating their fitness. Resources should be invested in border protection and in internal defenses, with realistic and implementable operational plans drafted to achieve significant gains on all fronts.
- A bolstered and renewed model of human resources: The IDF's power is predicated on the quality of those who serve in it. Required changes must be implemented in the human resources model guiding conscription, professional service, and reserve duty. The combat forces should be recognized and the necessary roles in other arms strengthened, amid an overall boosting of the sense of value and significance of service in the IDF.
The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing Israel’s Civilian Sukkah / Meir Elran and Idit Shafran Gittleman
According to Jewish tradition, the four species taken during the Sukkot festival symbolize the various sectors of the people of Israel, which complement one another. So too, national resilience, which is meant to protect us and serve as the roof of the challenged Israeli sukkah, comprises four elements that complement one another and are meant to serve as a protective dome from the blows to come. These elements are:
- Societal solidarity, crucial for national security, but currently damaged by the ongoing socio-political crisis.
- Trust of sectors of society and the Israeli public in governing institutions, which continues to decline in ongoing and disturbing fashion.
- Undermined governance, manifested in the government’s conduct toward the Israeli public, its incomprehensible set of priorities, and its failure to contend with the ever severe challenges in the societal, economic, and national security realms, both external and internal.
- Israeli democracy, which is threatened from within.
Since the current right-wing government was installed, the Israeli civilian sukkah has found itself in a seminal, unprecedented crisis. This is an ongoing socio-political crisis that has deepened the rifts in Israeli society, harmed the economy, and threatened the country's stability and national security. In the coming days, the crisis is expected to mark new lows, with continued legislation on crucial judicial matters, public broadcasting, the formative and sensitive question of IDF conscription, and a long list of toxic initiatives. Not only has the crisis not been calmed – it continues to intensify and create crashing waves of chaos, hatred, and frustration. National resilience is undermined before our eyes, and the government is not trying to bring calm – in fact, it is inflaming the situation. The damage in all realms continues to accumulate to troubling levels.
In order to preserve the imperiled Israeli sukkah, the government must take immediate action to boost resilience, bolster solidarity, trust, and governance, and strengthen the essential foundation of democracy. If it does not do so, the people will.
The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Sukkah / Udi Dekel
The most prominent trend of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decade has been a slow, almost imperceptible slide toward a one-state reality. The more this trend advances, and the deeper the entanglement of Israeli and Palestinian communities, the greater the friction that can be expected between two peoples struggling for control over the same strip of land west of the Jordan River – and the greater, too, the anticipated difficulty in formulating terms for crafting a political accord predicated on separation into two distinct entities.
Most of the Israeli public is tired of the Palestinian-conflict and has therefore become indifferent to it, enabling the government of Israel to proceed with an incremental annexation of territory in the West Bank – despite the widespread understanding that the one-state reality would constitute an existential threat to the future, character, and security of the State of Israel. With a view to stopping the dangerous slide, this may be the last opportunity to build a steadfast sukkah specifically for the Palestinian Authority, supported by four poles:
- Israeli assistance in strengthening the Palestinian Authority, so that it will serve as a responsible element that will attend effectively to the needs of the Palestinian populace.
- Use of the normalization contacts with Saudi Arabia, with a view to changing course and turning the PA into a legitimate actor in interim measures that aimed principally at Israel’s political, geographic, and demographic separation from the Palestinians. This is also the way to enlist Arab Gulf states in the advancement of economic and infrastructure projects in PA territory.
- Terrorism is driven mainly by events at the Temple Mount: provocations, prayers, and shofar-blowing. What happens on the Temple Mount and around the al Aqsa Mosque is of heartfelt concern to the Muslim world and peace-partner countries. Therefore the status quo must be preserved, the situation in the compound calmed, and provocations by Muslims and Jews prevented. Doing so will also improve the stance of Arab countries vis-à-vis normalization.
- The season’s Jewish holidays are a time for us to soul-search and atone – to go back to our roots, to democratic Jewish values, and to who we are really meant to be: lovers of life and pursuers of peace. This is a time to rid ourselves of nationalist violence, the dissemination of poison, and measures that exacerbate rifts in Israeli society.
The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing the IDF Sukkah / Tamir Hayman and Ofer Shelah
The Sukkot festival of the Jewish calendar year 5784 finds the IDF sukkah on shakier ground than ever. The military and its commanders are at the center of Israel’s internal dispute, and as such, regular and reserve service, which is a value as well as a tangible asset, is pitted against a political echelon that is alienated from the IDF and wages unprecedented attacks on its leadership. All this is compounded by questions of IDF fitness, raised by the decision of thousands of reservists to suspend their voluntary service in protest over the judicial overhaul.
Four elements can stabilize the IDF sukkah, given the increasing risk of complex and difficult multi-arena hostilities:
The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing Israel’s Civilian Sukkah / Meir Elran and Idit Shafran Gittleman
According to Jewish tradition, the four species taken during the Sukkot festival symbolize the various sectors of the people of Israel, which complement one another. So too, national resilience, which is meant to protect us and serve as the roof of the challenged Israeli sukkah, comprises four elements that complement one another and are meant to serve as a protective dome from the blows to come. These elements are:
Since the current right-wing government was installed, the Israeli civilian sukkah has found itself in a seminal, unprecedented crisis. This is an ongoing socio-political crisis that has deepened the rifts in Israeli society, harmed the economy, and threatened the country's stability and national security. In the coming days, the crisis is expected to mark new lows, with continued legislation on crucial judicial matters, public broadcasting, the formative and sensitive question of IDF conscription, and a long list of toxic initiatives. Not only has the crisis not been calmed – it continues to intensify and create crashing waves of chaos, hatred, and frustration. National resilience is undermined before our eyes, and the government is not trying to bring calm – in fact, it is inflaming the situation. The damage in all realms continues to accumulate to troubling levels.
In order to preserve the imperiled Israeli sukkah, the government must take immediate action to boost resilience, bolster solidarity, trust, and governance, and strengthen the essential foundation of democracy. If it does not do so, the people will.
The Four Sukkah Poles: Stabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Sukkah / Udi Dekel
The most prominent trend of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decade has been a slow, almost imperceptible slide toward a one-state reality. The more this trend advances, and the deeper the entanglement of Israeli and Palestinian communities, the greater the friction that can be expected between two peoples struggling for control over the same strip of land west of the Jordan River – and the greater, too, the anticipated difficulty in formulating terms for crafting a political accord predicated on separation into two distinct entities.
Most of the Israeli public is tired of the Palestinian-conflict and has therefore become indifferent to it, enabling the government of Israel to proceed with an incremental annexation of territory in the West Bank – despite the widespread understanding that the one-state reality would constitute an existential threat to the future, character, and security of the State of Israel. With a view to stopping the dangerous slide, this may be the last opportunity to build a steadfast sukkah specifically for the Palestinian Authority, supported by four poles: