The second lockdown began a week ago, and it seems as if there's a contest to decide who's at fault for the situation. First on the list is the Netanyahu government and the demonstrators outside the Prime Minister's Residence. Just after them are the Haredi and Arab sectors.
This lockdown, like the "fake" closure that preceded it, is somewhat unreasonable. The aspect of it that stands out the most is the decision to allow protest of up to 2,000 (!) people, while the rest of us are forbidden to drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house or see our nieces and nephews. We were expected to pray outside on Yom Kippur, during a heat wave that went well above 90 degrees, but protests were still allowed.
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This is indeed absurd, but it's not an excuse. Even if certain people choose to hold events that cause mass outbreaks, it doesn't mean that we need to behave with equal stupidity. Please, stop looking for justifications. Pray and protest at home! Let's keep our dear ones out of danger. Let's keep them from dying of COVID or suffering from some disability that might result from this awful virus.
The lockdown is an excellent time for introspection. Not for ourselves, but for us to take a look at our public officials. We should remember that we live in a democratic regime, and as such, the game is political, but the people are sovereign. If the government doesn't function and its members act out the famous biblical saying "I will die with the Philistines" (at the expense of the citizens), we need to show responsibility and protest at the ballot box.
In other words, the masks aren't causing us any harm, while COVID and our elected officials are. It's not pleasant to say this, but in politics, the more hatred that flies between different sectors and political camps means that chaos runs rampant. The differences between Right and Left are bigger and sharper, and whoops, without noticing, we find ourselves holding another election that is likely to result in the same results as the previous one. Let's use the nationwide lockdown to stop hating each other and start thinking about democracy.
One small example is the attitude toward the prime minister – yes, the one who pushed for this full lockdown. On one hand, he continues to lead Israel to impressive achievements in the international arena. In politics, too, he has had an impressive year – he won most of the elections, if not at the polls, then by political moves. His political opponents, as well as the left-wing elite, have been trying for years to topple him, without success. He turned out to be a successful leader during the first wave of COVID, too.
On the other hand, the second wave caught him unprepared. He set up a bloated, dysfunctional "unity" government, but actually? An entire country is under lockdown. Will the virus do what humans haven't been able to, and bring Netanyahu's political career to an end?
My next claim might sound strange, but I think that the second lockdown presents Netanyahu with an opportunity. If he can just manage to shake off the advisors and the unflattering polls and focus on crisis management – an area in which he excels – Netanyahu could still be a leader. He could stand out in the chaotic "unity" government. He could make the right decisions, and even use the consensus between the coalition and the Opposition wisely in order to restore the faith of us, the ordinary folk, in leaders and leadership.
And what about the race to lay blame? According to Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur decides the fate of people and the world. Yom Kippur isn't about the wrongs people do to each other. So let's start off on the right foot and stop blaming each other. We can settle accounts at the polls.
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