The editorial of Haaretz on June 21 set the tone. “And again, anyone but Bibi!” The article continued: Regardless of what we think of the Lapid-Bennett government and the reasons for its failure, we remain goal-oriented; the task of the Israeli people is to prevent Bibi from returning to power. The key word here is undoubtedly “again”, with voters going to the polls for the fifth time under the slogan “anyone but Bibi.” The goal is to thwart Netanyahu’s attempts to reach the coveted 61 seats, which will push members of the Likud and the right-wing bloc to show him the exit door.

Therefore, this election campaign, like its four predecessors, will be cruel, full of hatred and incitement, and leave behind scorched earth. The Lapid – Bennett bloc will call on its camp to stand behind the flag with the well-known anti-fascist slogan “no pasaran” against Bibi, Ben Gvir and Smotrich. On the other hand, the national camp will call on its voters to defend the flag, the Jewish people and prevent “supporters of terrorism” from taking over the national agenda.

The question, therefore, is what price left-wing parties and liberals will have to pay in their war against Bibi. The price the Likud is paying is obvious – providing legitimacy to Kahanism in the form of Ben Gvir and Zionist Messianism in the form of Smotrich – but this is not a fatal blow to the basic Likud agenda. The Left, on the other hand, pays a great deal more. It must give up all its principles, provide legitimacy to the nationalist conservatism of the right-wing parties: Yemina, New Hope, Yisrael Beiteinu and even Blue and White. Adherence to “anyone but Bibi” entails a relinquishment of the basic values of a liberal society, such as opposition to the occupation, opposition to discrimination against Arab citizens (as expressed in the Nation State and Citizenship laws, which place state Judaism above basic human and civil rights). And the highest price of all: adoption of the premise that there is no solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, and that all that can be done is to manage it.

Over time, the frogs that the Left is swallowing become the daily food of us all. Yielding to the Right has been transformed from a one-time event into routine. The failure of the “government of change” stems from the fact that those frogs popped up every morning in Knesset votes, until they caused severe indigestion. The coalition’s premise that ideological debates can be set aside has proved false. In a situation of ongoing national conflict, and despite the good will of the coalition members, the Palestinian question and Jewish-Arab relations have re-emerged in full, dictating the agenda and unravelling cohesion. It turns out that the hatred for Bibi is not strong enough to overcome basic questions.

The teachers ‘strike, the bus drivers’ protest, the tent protests asking for affordable housing, the state of the hospitals, the endless traffic jams, the violence in Arab society, the huge social gaps and the rising cost of living—all go to show that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the only concern of Israelis, Jews and Arabs but also the struggles of everyday life, which are rapidly becoming unbearable. Even amid these existential questions, the Israeli Left surrenders without a fight to the Right. For an entire year, the coalition has proved that on socioeconomic issues, it is even to the right of the Likud. Neoliberal policies, which have caused tremendous social gaps, are viewed like natural law by both Right and Left. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz did nothing to heal the health care system. In particular, despite talk of reform, nothing was done to improve the miserable job conditions of medical interns. Meretz Environmental Minister Tamar Zandberg presented a plan to reduce emissions by 2030, but no trace of it remains after the intervention of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, who prefer gas. Transport Minister Merav Michaeli raised public transportation prices so as not to break the budget given to her by finance officials. The policy of budget reduction and privatization continues just as in the days of Netanyahu, while Israel sits on a barrel of social dynamite.

The failure of the Bennett government raises the question: if not Bibi, then what? Will it be possible to restore the coalition of the eight parties, reconnecting the settler Right with the Left and the Islamists? If the answer is no, what is the alternative to Netanyahu? The only possible answer is a government led by the Likud without him, on the model of past governments that connected the Likud and Labor, as well as Yesh Atid and the ultra-Orthodox, while Meretz, the Arab parties and the Jewish Home Party remain outside.

But that coveted government, the same vehicle that is supposed to restore sanity and normalcy to our lives, would be running a country that is completely abnormal. Apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza is abnormal, extreme social gaps are abnormal, global warming is abnormal, the state of violence—both in schools and in Arab society—is abnormal, the situation of teachers, doctors and the elderly is abnormal, not to mention the state of the roads. It is a country living in anomaly, whose very existence is based on the eternal conflict with the Palestinians and the constant need to cultivate an external enemy, presently in the form of Iran. Imagine how much could have been improved with the huge budget set aside for the army and security apparatus!

When the basic question is “anyone but Bibi,” these existential issues have no place in the public sphere. Israel in 2022 is completely dried up on new ideas, is gradually disengaging from the democracies of the world, is connecting to dark regimes like Putin’s Russia and Muhammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia, and denies in practice the climate crisis. It lacks a social vision, blindly relies on market forces that have distorted the economy and left most people far behind. Most importantly, it deceives itself that it can be Jewish, democratic, and an occupier all at once. This is a country that has no place for progressives who strive for an egalitarian society and refuse to hate Arabs.

The Da’am party sees this election as an opportunity to expand discourse on a program that will present an alternative to the Right. Unfortunately, the existing parties, both Right and Left, are not partners for a new political discourse. Those who support Putin, Assad and Abu Mazen cannot engage in democratic discourse. Extremist Islamic ideologues cannot be political partners. Those who are willing to give up their principles to join the fundamentalist Right can hardly be expected to join a discussion on a fundamental change in direction.

Possible partners for such a discourse are people who are willing to oppose apartheid, who prefer partnership over nationalist separation, who support an egalitarian economy, who are willing to sacrifice to save the planet, and whose hearts belong to the global democratic camp. This camp supports Ukraine in its fight against Putin, and it supports the US Democratic Party against the dark proclivities of Donald Trump.

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The Bennett-led government is wobbling. Since resignation of coalition leader Idit Silman (of the Yamina party), it has lost its thin majority in the Knesset, and the countdown has begun. How will the government fall? There are two alternatives: a vote of no confidence or dissolution of the Knesset.  The no-confidence alternative must be “constructive”, meaning there must be a candidate for prime minister from within the current Knesset who can muster a majority, thus rendering an election unnecessary. On the other hand, dissolution of the Knesset requires an absolute majority of 61, followed by an election, but here too there is a “twist.”

According to the current coalition agreement, if two MKs from Bennett’s right-wing bloc (Yamina and Tikva Khadashah [New Hope]), break ranks and support dissolution of the Knesset, then Yair Lapid of centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) will take Bennett’s place as prime minister, pending a newly elected government. (The same agreement excludes MK Amichai Chikli (Yamina) from being among the two, because he has voted against the government from the start.)   On the other hand, if a member of the United Arab List (UAL) leaves the coalition and supports new elections, Bennett will serve as the transitional PM, with all the benefits of an incumbent during the campaign.

But let’s start from the beginning. Lapid and his allies on the Left were forced to grant the prime ministership to Bennett, even though the latter’s Yamina had won a mere six seats. This marked the odd character of the government. The sole reason it has lasted a year is aversion to and fear of Netanyahu, which forces its members to twist and turn, politically and ideologically. Yet the current Knesset’s gravitational center is clearly on the right. Yamina members are influenced by the right-wing pull, peeling off from the coalition and speeding its death. Following the resignation of Silman, all that remains is for Nir Orbach, director general of a Yamina faction called the Jewish Home, to take steps to ensure the government falls. Yair Lapid will then replace Bennett in a transitional government until a newly elected one is sworn in.

Although the Bennett-Lapid rotation agreement initially gave Bennett and his like, representing the settler Right, the top job and other key positions, it soon became clear they could not deliver what the settlers wanted. On the other hand, the government’s left-wing factions, Labor and Meretz, swallowed every conceivable frog to maintain the coalition. Their purpose was to somehow get through Bennett’s first two years and reach the day when Yair Lapid would become PM. But this coveted day is like the horizon, which moves ever farther away as you try to approach. In addition, members of Yamina have shown how much they suffer in the hybrid government. It seems that a Lapid-led government would drive them into the lap of Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc.

Apparently, this is why UAL party head Mansour Abbas (The Islamic Brotherhood) , who had frozen his faction’s participation in Knesset votes following disruptions and police violence at the al-Aqsa mosque, returned to the coalition. UAL did not want to take responsibility for the government’s overthrow. This would not only signal failure of its political strategy, but it would grant the transitional prime ministry to Bennett. It seems that Yamina’s Nir Orbach will do the work instead by resigning. If he does, the transitional PM will be Yair Lapid, who suits Abbas better.

Beyond this cynical political game, and regardless of who will be PM, the change that this government promised was miniscule, and the fundamental problems that threaten the integrity and security of Israeli society have only intensified. If the fact that a criminal defendant is not serving as prime minister signifies change, then what we have is indeed a Government of Change. The style of speech has undoubtedly improved, as raw vituperation has given way to pleasantness, mutual support, and reconciliation. However, niceness is not the main role of a government. A government is supposed to deal with fundamental problems, and here it has failed miserably.

The fact that after twenty years Israel is forced to return to Jenin to fight terrorism is a clear failure that cries out to heaven. As usual, the Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, has gone to search for terrorism under the lamplight, when the wave of attacks actually came from Hura and Umm al-Fahm, both in Israel, inspiring young people in villages scattered throughout the West Bank. There is nothing in the Israeli army’s much touted entries into Jenin that will change its ability to control this refugee camp. It is merely a show to slake the Israeli thirst for revenge.

The government has decided to ignore the Palestinian issue on two grounds: its ideological heterogeneity does not permit it to handle politically explosive tasks, and it continues to broadcast the mantra that there is no Palestinian partner. But what about the “civil” issues that the “Government of Change” was created to resolve? Here the coalition depends only on itself, but it has been an abject failure. A few examples will suffice. Instead of narrowing social gaps and raising labor productivity, the government continues to nurture high-tech at the expense of other sectors. The housing crisis deepens day by day, and apartment prices are increasing 20% annually. The educational system is in deep crisis, and thousands of underpaid teachers are leaving the profession. Kindergartens and nurseries suffer from low-quality staffing, and horrific stories of violence against children appear in the mainstream news. Hospital reform cannot get underway due to a severe shortage of doctors. In ​​transportation, the government continues to encourage the purchase of private vehicles over use of public transportation. The frequency of trains is decreasing and traffic jams make commuting a nightmare. Climate policy has become a hostage of the Chevron Corporation, while promises of alternative energy remain on paper. Neglect of Arab society continues as usual, with the government interested in fighting violence but not addressing its root causes: the huge social disparities, widespread unemployment among youth, and a poor educational level.

There is no doubt that change is needed, not in style but in content. Israel has been captive for decades to political, economic and social conceptions that have lost their relevance. The success of high-tech on the one hand, and Israel’s military power on the other, dazzle and entangle the country. High-tech does not solve the problems of a socially, culturally and politically divided society, nor is military force an answer to the needs of five million Palestinians lacking any civil or national status. The political crisis that threatens to lead us to a fifth election campaign, and the inability to form a stable and functioning government, express the unwillingness of the political establishment in all its parts – Right, Left and the Arab parties – to step out of their ideological fixations and propose ideas toward a better future.

Those who ignore the Palestinian question will not find solutions to the problems of social disparity, housing, education, transportation, health and welfare. It is no coincidence that Israel links its fate to dark regimes that perpetuate the past. It continues its ties with Putin, refusing to join the democratic camp in the Ukraine war, because of the same ideological fixation. As long as there is no democratic movement based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians, we will continue to be entangled in pointless rounds of elections. If we do not change reality through our actions, it will not change on its own.

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The Bennett government has adopted the famous saying “If you can’t beat them, join them,” regarding the Omicron wave sweeping the world and striking Israel with all its might. “We were the first” has become the common currency of Israeli leaders: We were the first to close the skies and the first to vaccinate the population, Netanyahu boasted; we were the first to give the booster shots and the first to confirm a second booster, bragged Bennett. Yet this primacy has eroded in the blink of an eye. The first has become the last, so much so that the green pass, the same pass that was supposed to protect us, has lost all value.

We have become a nation like the nations, and what is good for Britain and the United States is also good for Israel. In other words, we have been left unprotected and helpless. The government, tail between its legs, has thrown up its hands and told us – dear citizens, do what you want. Thus, after two whole years of the nightmare pandemic, we have all become experts, epidemiologists, therapists, psychologists and policymakers. In such a situation, who even needs the government or the Ministry of Health?

“Omicron causes mild illness” is the new slogan, and since it cannot be stopped, we are told that it is not terrible if we become infected. The forecast is that one in four, something like two million citizens, will fall ill. The truth is that we will never know the true number of those infected, because the state has stopped doing mass testing, and those who have not reached the age of sixty will do a home test if they want to, or will not be tested if they do not want to. In any case, since the test is inaccurate, even the negatives (which may be positives) will go around as they please, freely infecting others. Long live individual freedom.

In the meantime, we are told that this wave will be powerful and high, but will break quickly, and within three weeks we will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. This is, of course, until the next variant, currently evolving somewhere in Africa, or somewhere in East Asia or South America. We do not yet know how contagious the next mysterious variant will be and what organ it will affect. The Delta variant impacted the lungs, Omicron the throat, and the next Greek name might affect our heart, liver, or perhaps the pancreas.

Here is the place to emphasize – the failure is not only of Bennett and his government, but of the entire Western world. It is enough to look at what is happening in the United States, the country possessing the greatest scientific potential, which developed the COVID-19 vaccine in record time, to understand the magnitude of this failure. It is in the U.S. that the number of dead and sick from COVID-19 is record-breaking. The huge gap between scientific achievement and the socioeconomic system could not be more pronounced. While its citizens are sick and dead, its schools are closing and 100,000 American children have already lost one of their parents, the stock market is flourishing and drug companies are making billions.

The narrow, nationalistic view of the world, a world that is essentially global, and the thought that any country can alone defeat COVID-19, is unbearable nonsense that claims millions of victims. “None of us is safe until we are all safe,” says US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, yet his words and heart don’t match. Only 5% of those in the poor world are vaccinated, leaving the world vulnerable to the development of additional variants, while the pandemic continues to spread.

Ironically, vaccines have lost some of their effectiveness. Experts who were so enthusiastic about them are forced to acknowledge the fact that with the fourth booster, we have reached the limit of immune capacity. Professor Gili Regev, Head of the Infection Prevention and Control Units at Sheba Hospital, tells YNet: “Our initial results, which of course have not yet been published, show an increase in antibodies which is predictable but not very impressive. A fivefold increase is nice but insufficient – it does not give the same effect as the booster. If it brings us back to where we were four months ago – then every four months we’ll need a vaccine and that’s not the goal.” In other words – Ciao Pfizer, goodbye Moderna! You made your wad of cash and we remained as we were when it all started somewhere in late 2019, at Wuhan’s wet market.

The good news is, meanwhile, somewhere in a children’s hospital in faraway Texas, at the Baylor College of Medicine, two doctors, Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi, have developed a universal vaccine against the corona virus. And why should they develop another vaccine when many effective vaccines already exist? The answer is simple. Existing vaccines are not accessible to the poor world, that is, to most of the world. They are very expensive, require special refrigerated storage, and are protected by patents that prevent manufacturers around the world from producing them en masse and at a price accessible to everyone.

So, in the last week of 2021, India’s regulatory agency gave the go-ahead for a local vaccine manufacturer, Biological E. Limited (BioE), to start distributing the Corbevax vaccine developed in Texas, without a patent or restrictive conditions. Companies in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Botswana in Africa were also permitted to do so. The technology is based on a vaccine against the hepatitis B virus, and no special conditions are required for its production or storage.

Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, the Baylor did not receive any funding from the U.S. government, its budget is meager, and it operates on the principles of the polio vaccine inventor, Jonas Salk, who refrained from patenting his creation in the early 1950s. Following this, Albert Sabin successfully developed another vaccine against polio. In a joint paper published on the Scientific American website, Hotez and Bottazzi ask themselves the question: “If we had received a fraction of the support that multinational biotech companies received, would the world already be vaccinated?  We might have been able to prevent the appearance of Omicron, Alpha and Delta, which probably developed among unvaccinated people.” This is, of course, a rhetorical question that is in fact a stinging indictment against the medical establishment and Western governments, which so far have refused to waive patent rights in order to vaccinate the world.

Omicron may be a ringing slap-in-the-face that will finally wake up world leaders, teach them a lesson in modesty and humanity, and most importantly, jolt them out of their national blindness. The costs of protecting the economic interests of Big Pharma are dear, not “only” for the impoverished world, but also the wealthy one. When states give up, leaving citizens to their own devices, they endanger the democratic regimes themselves. Politicians lose credibility when caught making false promises about defeating the disease without worldwide vaccination. The scientific establishment also loses credibility when it fails to tell the public the simple truth: there is no national solution – the solution is global. The vaccine is not a solution as long as the whole world is not vaccinated. We must follow in the footsteps of Jonas Salk and waive the patent. Science is the intellectual property of all humankind.

This pandemic will end eventually, whether by human actions and science, or by nature itself. Yet the deep scars on the body of humanity will not heal quickly. Humanity has once again demonstrated how selfishness, indifference to suffering, and greed can lead us to self-extinction. “Don’t Look Up” is the name of the most watched movie on Netflix today, which describes how a meteorite approaching Earth may destroy humanity because leaders are blind and private interests mix science with profits.

Israeli society is also accustomed to entrenching itself within the national paradigm, not looking eastward. It, too, remains indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinians living among us and refuses to offer a solution. This is the same blindness we witness today in the face of Omicron: the government throws up its hands, deluding itself that everything will somehow work out. The delusions are now exploding in our faces. The so-called “government of change” turns out to be helpless. It refuses to impose authority of any kind, let alone closure, and allows mass infections. So, in effect, it leaves Omicron to decide for us: it will put us in isolation, it will impose a closure on us, and it will decide when to leave us, without notice.

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