The history of Israel will forever be divided into the period before and after October 7, 2023. The communities enveloping Israel in the south have undoubtedly suffered the most severe and immediate injury. However, the circles of destruction and damage have affected the entire state. Over 130,000 civilians have been evacuated, yet double that number are estimated to have left home to become refugees in their own country.
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Apart from the military failure, it seems that in some areas the government is struggling to provide adequate solutions to civilians' needs. Having led the Ministry of Labor and Social Services during the COVID crisis, in the face of challenges unprecedented in scope and intensity, I can point to the pivotal moment marking the success of our response. The moment that helped eradicate the epidemic and rehabilitate society and the economy occurred when we adopted a strategy based on local government. The central government chose to delegate powers and provide resources to the heads of local authorities. This enabled them to deal with their residents' immediate needs and work together towards a single, national goal.
This needs to take place now as well.
The residents of several cities in the periphery have been dispersed among several locations, yet their local authorities are still caring for them. Despite this, government support for the emergency and security needs of communities along the conflict line is being delayed. As a result of not receiving adequate government aid, these municipalities are collapsing under the burden. In addition, they are forced to tackle exhausting bureaucracy and tight-fisted policies. Amidst one of the most difficult wars we have ever known, the government should not be continuing policies suited to life as usual.
Some three weeks after the Black Sabbath, there is still a noticeable lack of synchronization between central and local government. Among other things, this is expressed in a chronic budget shortage. On the one hand, the state is ordering the evacuation of front-line communities. On the other hand, it has not drawn up a clear model for the receiving cities to cope with the evacuees. Without such a model, some of these cities are in danger of collapse. This is especially true given the likelihood that the civilians evacuated from the south and the north of the country will be forced to stay there for a long time. In some hotels, for instance, occupancy has already reached 120%. There are issues to consider beyond the immediate concerns of feeding or removing unusual volumes of waste. One such issue is how to guarantee the children's education? Or how to enable the evacuees' continued, long-term employment routine?
The residents of the conflict line communities were the first to be evacuated to Eilat, and are for the most part receiving the help they need. This is largely due to the impressive mobilization of the municipality of Eilat, which has almost tripled its population. The municipality of Sderot, for example, deployed an entire array of education personnel, social workers, and mental support for its residents who are staying in Eilat hotels. We are in favor of employing similar models also in the north, for instance, along the Hermon slopes. There the council made sure to assign a team to every hotel the communities were evacuated to. Practically speaking – that local authority is now spread over widely scattered hotels.
In fact, the budget allocated by the Israeli government to support the home front's emergency needs to be much more significant than the unprecedented philanthropic effort we are witnessing. In the past two weeks, for example, the New York Federation has invested over 120 million NIS ($30 million) in Israel. This is directed towards strengthening the home front and the conflict line communities in both the south and the north, including hospitals on the front line and a host of relief, emergency, and security organizations.
The survivors of the atrocities did not choose to leave their homes. Some of them fled from the horror of the massacre and war crimes. Others were required to leave by the state. We are all responsible for making each and every one of them feel "at home", even when reality has cruelly torn them from it. World Jewry, especially American Jewry, does not stand idly by. Alongside a formidable lobby in Washington and huge rallies for Israel all over North America, another aircraft carrier is being flown here – one filled with social and economic support for the Israeli home front.
