On October 7, when I returned home at 10pm after 15 tiring and exhausting hours of work in the emergency room of Soroka Hospital, one thought crossed my mind – everything has changed, what was will no longer be.
Just a day earlier, on the Friday before Simchat Torah, the weekend editions of all the newspapers marked the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. That same past trauma, a war against a brutal army that surprised Israel, still resonates half a century later. I couldn’t help but draw the parallels – a surprise enemy invasion and a state that failed its people. The Yom Kippur War proved beyond any doubt that military power has clear limitations and it cannot be used forever for the purpose of maintaining security.
On the other hand, the Yom Kippur War ended within three weeks with a decision by the UN Security Council, which led to the beginning of diplomatic talks. In December 1973, a separation of forces agreement was signed between Israel and Egypt. Two years later, both sides signed an interim agreement and committed to reach a peace agreement. Less than six years after the war, the first peace agreement was signed between the State of Israel and an Arab country in the Middle East. Today, the border with Egypt has been Israel’s safest border for over 45 years, with stable economic and security cooperation.
In October 2023, I hoped with all my heart that we would be smart enough to do what we did 50 years ago.
Now it’s been almost a year, and this is an opportunity to remind ourselves that the only thing that has ever brought safety and security to the region is peace agreements and political settlements, and yet, Israeli leadership chooses to increase military pressure and doom its people to forever live by the sword.
An agreement between Israelis and Palestinians not only guarantees security, but also contains a promise to get rid of the immoral occupation and control over the Palestinian people that have brought us to this point. In the last two years, the Israeli public has experienced the consequences of the occupation that has been ongoing for 57 years. Practices that were accepted as part of Israeli control over Palestinians for decades – administrative arrests without a court order, violence against protesters, killing innocents and subsequent cover-ups – have now become common even within the Green Line against Israeli civilians, be it Palestinian citizens of Israel or Jewish Israelis, protesting Netanyahu.
The judicial coup, which is still running at full speed, is a direct consequence of the government’s undemocratic rule in the occupied Palestinian territories and its goal to completely annex the West Bank, in violation of international and Israeli law, and especially in violation of any human value and moral code.
The continuation of the occupation will lead to the continued moral deterioration of Israeli society, which today allows itself to argue for or against raping Palestinian detainees in the Sde Teiman detention camp, or to remain indifferent to the deaths of over 40,000 civilians in Gaza, most of whom are children and women. We must stop this dangerous spiral as soon as possible, and the only way to do so is through a political arrangement that will eventually lead to a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Striving for a peace agreement is a commitment to the basic values of equality and freedom – for both Israelis and Palestinians. We must go back to the basics and commit to equality and freedom. No one will be safe as long as we are not all safe, free and equal to each other – from the river to the sea.
I am writing this from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Just a few days ago, I visited the historical museum in the city, which tells the story of Estonia’s independence from occupation of the former Soviet Union. They call the museum Vabamu – “free mother” in Estonian – and it is full of memories and testimonies of Estonians who lived under Soviet occupation. The longing for freedom was evident everywhere, because this is perhaps the only thing that cannot be taken from a person. Even if people lose their property, family and dignity, the yearning of a people for freedom cannot be defeated.
Now is our time to fight and choose freedom, equality and peace – for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.