"Man serves the interests of no creature except himself" (George Orwell, "Animal Farm," 1943). This sentence, written as criticism, was adopted by devotees of the free market, but today even they realize that the market alone cannot defeat coronavirus. Surprisingly, all the voices clamoring to privatize the healthcare system and cut welfare budgets have gone quiet, as has the discussion about how an "invisible hand will solve everything." Everyone who was declaring that they wouldn't pay taxes and wouldn't expect anything is realizing they were wrong.
The coronavirus epidemic proves that society is only as strong as its weakest link, and that social justice is not only a way of solving the crisis – it is itself the solution.
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Globalization toppled walls and borders, and it seems as if nothing would block the movement of people, goods, and money. Today, as the epidemic is closing borders and causing social distancing, the realization is starting to sink in that international cooperation will help contain the virus. A doctor from Tiberias reached out to a doctor in Italy to ask for the treatment protocol for serious corona cases. The Italian doctor had received it from his colleagues in China. The Palestinian Health Ministry is in close contact with Israel's Health Ministry to keep the epidemic, which does not recognize borders, from spreading. Worldwide, differences between people are being obscured.
The world has been thrust back 75 years to days like those after World War II, when people realized that a free market economy was not enough to survive the social chaos. It might help a few people up the ladder but would leave everyone else behind. This is how the Marshall Plan, which funneled money into physical and social infrastructure rebuilding, came into being. These investments turned into socio-democratic systems. It was necessary. This is also how the Israeli economy was built.
Today, it's clear that the most effective weapon against the coronavirus epidemic is social solidarity. It seems as if the virus feeds off weakening social ties, and it's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "fat man" who is handling the epidemic – whose best vaccine is a welfare state. The "invisible hand" has been caught with its pants down, and every is realizing that without government intervention, the entire economy could be damaged.
This crisis is an opportunity to rebuild the social systems in Israel and the rest of the world. We must heed the warning lights that show us what could happen to the entire economy if its weak links collapse. We need a plan that will rescue small businesses, protect salaried employees, and ensure that young families can live in a time when they have no income, as well as protect the health of the elderly. It also needs to ensure that in the days after the crisis, Israel will return to investing in its society.
Every crisis is an opportunity, and maybe as a result of coronavirus, the world can be a better place, with a more just society. I have hope in my heart that maybe the need for global cooperation will create a new dynamic for diplomatic processes worldwide in general and, in our region in particular, will lead to a process that will result in peace between Israel and its neighbors.
