There is a particular difficulty in judging political decisions while they are being made: those who make them rarely have the luxury of perspective.

A politician stands at the shore, not on some distant hill from which the entire landscape can be seen. Waves arrive one after another: security threats, wars, economic pressures, political demands, public fears, and diplomatic crises. Each wave demands a response. There is little time to step back and ask what the entire sea looks like.

Politics is like that. Leaders must act while events are unfolding, with incomplete information and no reliable knowledge of what lies ahead. The consequences of a decision may become clear only years, or even decades, later. A policy that seems wise today may eventually prove disastrous; a decision condemned at the time may later be recognized as necessary.

For Israel, this problem is particularly serious. Its leaders must respond to persistent external threats while also dealing with deep political, religious, and ideological disagreements within Israeli society. They face enemies, wars, terrorism, regional instability, diplomatic pressure, and economic and social challenges. They cannot wait for history to tell them whether they have chosen correctly. They have to decide now.

Events also rarely unfold as expected. Small decisions, unexpected developments, or seemingly minor changes in........

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