The startup nation is proud to present the major sources of infection: the people who are protesting, and the people who are praying. It was apparently convenient for someone for us to go back to the good old Left vs. Right and religious vs. secular arrangement. No, it wasn't one person. It's the guy who was busy with his personal matter while also wanted to appear strong to his voters, the ones who think they invented democracy and the ones who think that they have exclusive ownership of Judaism.

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This week, the Corona cabinet met for a good nine hours to repeat the same threats and ultimate about protests and prayers. Nine hours of babble instead of nine minutes devoted to drafting a short announcement that the lockdown would apply to everyone. Full stop. Without exemptions, without concessions. One people, one fate.

The chaos is being directed by the unity government, which very quickly became a disunity government. Its members forgot that our real battle is to save the economy, to save welfare, for our children who are cut off from schools, for the battered women who are trapped at home, over the lack of social workers and the fact that medical staff is exhausted. Things have gotten so absurd that it seems as if we're on a train speeding over a cliff, and all the engineers care about is who turned the keys. Are you crazy? Hit the brakes!

This bonfire of nonsense didn't light itself. The media is also throwing gas on the fire, by putting more and more emphasis on protests and prayers, and breaking into broadcasts with updates from those hotspots. The people who call themselves watchdogs have become, whether they noticed or not, attack dogs for both sides. Instead of ignoring political power games, the media spent a week running headlines about "The battle over Yom Kippur" and "Protests vs. prayers." Instead of leading a discourse of unity and responsibility, it is providing a platform for incitement, baseless hatred, and slanderous spins. Media managers and editors: it is time for some introspection from you, as well.

And of course, as with every crisis that befalls us, we are starting to hear comparisons between the current one and the ultimate failure – the Yom Kippur War. But unfortunately for all of us, the insanity today makes us almost nostalgic for Israel of 1973. Then, the failures led to a terrible war. But days after it broke out, the leadership at the time came to its senses, the public came together, there was solidarity, and the army turned the tables on its way to one of Israel's most glorious victories. The COVID situation, as of now, is absolutely different. Seven months ago, the war broke out, and we are losing battle after battle.

The current situation is reminiscent of a scene from Save the Lifeguard, Uri Zohar's last movie. A swimmer complains about Zohar, who until that point had been busy with everything except his main job.

"Excuse me, just a moment," the man says to Zohar the lifeguard. "Don't you think you've gone a little too far? You're eating my food, you made me watch the kid. Maybe you want me to be a lifeguard instead of you? You're a lifeguard, be a lifeguard."

In the film, Zohar answers, "Thanks. In one moment, you put me straight." But that only happens in movies. In reality, we'll have to pray.

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The post Who will screw our heads on straight? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Way back, in March, Israel was a global leader in terms of curbing the worldwide pandemic. Infographics were plastered everywhere, compliments from world leaders were pouring in, and then we mistakenly thought it was all over.

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Alas, COVID-19 is still very much with us, and with it is a set of challenges that are waiting to be addressed. The only thing that fades quickly is the order that prevailed in the public sphere – the kind of order that emerges mostly during times of national crises to help us deal with them relatively successfully.

This crisis management endeavor stars three: the government, the media and the public. When they speak in the same language, the overall misery imposed on us by the pandemic becomes more tolerable. You may not like it and you shouldn't get used to it, but you also cannot give up on it – certainly not in the middle of the campaign.

Currently, however, each of these three leading entities is on its own planet. This is how we have gone from a situation where the government – for better or worse – was managing the crisis, the media was reporting on it, and the public was disciplined, to a situation where the media is hysterical, the public is indifferent, and the government is treading water.

You have to admit – and some may be embarrassed to do so – but the circus currently dominating the way in which the unity government is handling the corona crisis makes one long for the not-so-distant days of the previous government when the media delivered the daily briefing and the public followed government directives, as we are used to doing.

There are several important rules when it comes to successful crisis management. The most prominent among them include defining clear objectives and the strategy to achieving them, defining target audiences, selecting a regular presenter to mediate the messages, information and responses, and finally, using the available communication platforms properly.

You don't have to be an extraordinary crisis manager to realize that when it comes to managing the pandemic, the so-called "emergency corona government" is failing on all counts.

How can any headway be gained when the new health minister keeps changing direction, the new finance minister is flexing his muscles, the new education minister is being schooled, and the prime minister and pm-designate are busy with petty politics?

Public directives? Guidelines? Plans? Sorry, your own your own. It seems that is the election-stricken Israel, politics demands reality yields before it – not the other way around. Were we fighting a war – would anyone even imagine changing the defense minister and IDF chief mid-battle? Of course not.

Yes, elections took place but that doesn't mean the ministers and bureau chiefs that have already gained some experience in managing the corona crisis had to be replaced immediately. Personal appointments could have waited for the mere reason that the height of a pandemic is no time for the new guy to be learning the ropes.

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The media, by the way, are the last that should be complaining about the situation. They were the ones that were pushing for a unity government, and are now feeding us with nonstop tidbits about political squabbles, all while echoing the panic at the Health Ministry, instead of demanding the leadership provides them with clear messages to relay to the public.

As for the public – it has long lost interest in the endless stream of statistics and data and is now mainly engaged in escapism. Tanning lotion has replaced the hand sanitizer and rather than follow epidemiological queries, the public prefers to keep up with Reality TV.

That's what happens when there are no shepherds. The sheep stray.

The post The great corona disconnect appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.