To all those joining the trend of whining over the fate of the country, remember the epidemiological lessons learned from two earlier outbreaks of the same pandemic from half a century ago: during the recession before the 1967 Six-Day War and after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In both cases, which were very difficult times, it became clear that the number of terminal cases was lower than initially feared, that those on "ventilators" among the whiners were mainly from the "top cliché-tile," and the Israeli society recovered from the crisis and returned to its usual routine – growing stronger and establishing a good life with all its traits, according to its citizens who are positioned at the top of the "happiness scale", ahead of the US, Britain, France, and Germany.
Let it be clear: the current crisis is real. The harm to the state's resilience is tangible; the distrust in the leadership is mostly understandable; the economic fear of millions of providers and family members – is justified; many of the failures in the economic and health areas could have been avoided; rules of government that were thought to be stable have become controversial; the public discourse is violent and demagogic; the political system was failing even before the pandemic, and didn't wake up to effectively treat its victims; and the recovery will last for years.
But the hysterical cries and peculiar apocalyptic prophecies are not the answer. Some of them express fake despair, such as "there goes the country" or "this is the end of democracy," coming from people who would behave completely differently if they really meant the trendy clichés they were uttering. Some of them are bland comparisons to dark regimes, horrific phenomena and disgusting events, coming from educated people who have subordinated their discretion and public responsibility to their desire of getting more attention.
Such as those people who didn't win the public's trust in the voting booth, led by an Israel Prize laureate who studied the phenomenon, and who say that Israel is headed towards fascism - even though it does not display even one trait of this type of regime. The opponents of Israel's presence in the territories and of applying sovereignty in parts of them speak of "apartheid", even when it is emphasized that their residents will be offered citizenship if implemented. Government opposition wave black flags, just like the anarchists at the end of the 19th century, even though they don't call, of course, for the abandoning of the basic social and political "rules of the game".
They protest for democracy yet invite Ayman Odeh, an Assad apologist, to help remove the threat to it. The chairman of the Committee of University Heads determines that "Turkey is here" and hopes to "ignite the fire of rebellion" among the academic staff and students. The deputy chief of staff expresses concern, justifiably, from rioters who support Elor Azaria, and on Holocaust Remembrance Day "identifies processes" that took place in Germany in the 1930s. Amir Haskel describes the forceful removal of protesters' belongings at Balfour as a "pogrom." The prime minister himself describes a "Last Supper" protest exhibit as a "shameful threat of crucifixion." The ultra-Orthodox contribute to all this by educating their young to scream "Nazis" at police who come to block the spread of disease among them.
To deal with all this, two things are needed: calming and warning. First, the calming: there is no fascism in the core of the Israeli system and society, no apartheid, no Erdogan, no pogroms, no Nazis, no crucifixion, not even a danger to the basis of the democratic regime. Disgusting expressions on the crazy fringes do not threaten to take over the public mainstream or government institutions. These exaggerations are intended to muster support in a political camp by delegitimizing its rival. Whoever examines fairly the idyll of the past, will quickly learn that even nostalgia is no longer what it was: Israel is more democratic, open and pluralistic with every decade that passes.
And finally, a warning sign: the fact that all these do not exist in its core does not negate dangerous trends. In order to warn of them, it is important to isolate them and describe them without baseless exaggeration, which harms their trustworthiness and pushes them outside of the awareness of the majority. Here's the paradox: the more extreme the expression, the more it gains short term attention from the media and less trust and willingness from the public to step up and fix what needs fixing. It's not only morally wrong, it's politically ineffective.
