The future model for Israel

Dear coworkers,

For nearly three long years we’ve mourned the growing division between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel. It seemed the Hamas massacre had quashed the hope of brotherly relations between the ancient sons of Abraham.

But this week the counteroffensive began. Like the kingdom of God, it looked small and insignificant at first. A Jewish Zionist, a well-respected former police commander, announced he would run for the Knesset next month on the list of an Arab Muslim party.

“The common assertion — that after October 7 it is impossible to establish a political partnership with Arab parties — is absurd and false.”

From a friend’s letter to the commander, Yoav Segalovitz:

Yoav, you are very dear to me. I read what you wrote, and I couldn’t help but think about the months in which you carried this decision within you. I’ve known you long enough to know that you didn’t wake up one morning and decide to join Ra’am. You wrestled, you weighed, you asked yourself hard questions, and above all, you knew full well what price you might pay. In our conversations, I told you that this move carries many risks but also great hopes.

And then a friend said to me, upon hearing of your decision, a sentence that has stayed with me: “Yoav is the Herzl of our era.”

This is almost an absurd statement in its magnitude. But the more I think about it, the more I realize there’s something profound in it. Herzl didn’t settle for describing the reality before him. He dared to imagine a different reality. And you, in your own way, are saying today: I refuse to accept the boundaries that were drawn for us. I refuse to believe that Jews and Arabs in Israel are doomed to stand on opposite sides of the barricade forever. I want to test if another way is possible. You might be wrong. You might get hurt. The bridge you’re trying to build might tremble under your feet. But those who aren’t willing to cross a swaying bridge will never know if it’s possible to reach the other side.

I know you, Yoav the officer, the commander, the police superintendent, the public figure, the politician, and above all, a friend. But before all that, I know you as Yoav the man. A man who cares about this country to the point of pain. And that’s why I know the step you’re taking today doesn’t stem from weakness, from naivety, or from a search for a seat. It stems from a deep belief that it is possible and necessary to try to repair…

Dear Yoav, I will end my words to you precisely from the sources. We are in the days of repentance, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and the prayer of the emissary of the public echoes in me, just before he steps forward to stand before the congregation: “Here I am, poor in deeds, trembling and afraid… I have come to stand and plead before You for Your people Israel, who have sent me, even though I am not worthy or fitting for it.”

It is worthwhile reading the entire statement by Yoav Segalovitz. Notably he bases his stand on Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which is itself, in part, based on the word of God:

The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its citizens irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Will this development be as transformative as many hope? The counsel of the great Jewish sage Gamaliel comes to mind, as recorded in the New Testament: “If this plan or this undertaking is of man it will fail, but if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow them.”

The Hebrew bible is full of prophetic signs of final reconciliation between Jew and Arab; and as Isaiah tells us, the word that goes out from the mouth of God “shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Finally, and of special note to our community: the source of inspiration for the bold move of this Jewish commander.

The future model for the State of Israel that I see before me is a model familiar to anyone who enters the doors of an Israeli hospital. There, a person sheds the narratives and identities they carry. There, first and foremost, human beings meet.

Patients, doctors, nurses, administrative staff, families — everyone is equal.

Yes friends, this is the same picture which we see and share with you week by week, and year by year. What happens when Jews and Arabs meet in the hospitals in Israel is indeed a future model, a foretaste of the coming kingdom of heaven.

So often we feel like we are failing. Only later will we realize that our Father is working something on a much deeper level. This message we received from Montaser’s father was balm for our wounded spirits:

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (Paul’s letter to Corinth).

Jonathan for Shevet Achim

“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity…for there the LORD commands the blessing, even life forevermore” (Psalm 133).