People all over Israel are living in constant fear of missiles, rockets, shrapnel, and sirens. The whole country is in trauma and anxiety once again! Moreover, one third of the citizens of Israel don’t have “safe rooms” in their homes or shelters in their apartment buildings . Most communities of Israeli Arabs do not have either one. And Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank have none of the above (inequality in this issue is very glaring).

The wars go on and on, with no diplomatic horizon in sight. Not with Iran and not with Lebanon (despite the desire of the state of Lebanon to reach an agreement which would help them get rid of Hezbollah for the benefit of their citizens). Israel shows absolutely no interest in any diplomatic moves or any steps towards some kind of normalcy. There is no conception of “the day after” or an end to the wars. Only more and more war.

Moreover, the government of Israel hopes that the current Trump negotiations to end the war will fail, so they can keep the war going. They hope he is simply deceiving the world and will continue the war, until a successful end (like in Iraq and Afghanistan). They don’t seem to realize that the Iranian regime is resilient and that they still have plenty of weapons, and they are not going anywhere. After all, they survived after a ten-year war with Iraq!

The government of Israel has created very high false expectations about the possible outcomes of the war. The talk about “regime change” in Iran has mostly vanished although many of the people still believe in it and even expect it. Both the governments of the USA and Israel appear to be surprised that the Iranian government didn’t fall already! After the “shock and awe” of the first few days, they were hoping or actually believing that it would collapse, the people of Iran would rise up and revolt and then it could have been a short war (6 days, like in the good ol’ days of June 1967).

The same goes for Lebanon. Israel is preparing for a long war with Lebanon in order to get rid of Hezbollah “once and for all” (despite what Tom Friedman wrote a few days ago about the folly of this approach, but I don’t think that Bibi reads Tom anymore!). This is a very unrealistic expectation and will most likely will not happen. Yet, the people in the north of Israel, who are suffering greatly again (the government didn’t prepare enough safe rooms or shelters for them)  want to believe what the government and the IDF are promising them, even though they undoubtedly hear many commentators on radio and television in Israel telling them that this is a very tall order, and not very feasible.

Even if it were possible, at what costs? To lives and property in Israel?  To Israeli soldiers who will once again be stuck in the mud of Lebanon (we did this from 1982-2000 and it was not a great success story, to put it mildly). To the people of Lebanon, who also are already suffering greatly, with over a million new internal refugees? (Does anyone in Israel care at all about them? Are they not human beings also?) Clearly, a determined and demonstrative diplomatic solution, with the forceful help of the USA, France and others, would be a safer and saner way to help Lebanon disarm and get rid of Hezbollah, and would enable Israeli citizens in the north to live without these constant wars!

These long wars—in addition to the unfinished war against Hamas that has gone on for over 2 1/2 years (and which the government of Israel is promising to renew)— are wreaking havoc on the economy of Israel! The tourist industry has been decimated since October 7th, 2023. Thousands of small businesses are faltering. Thousands more of self-employed citizens can barely work from crowded apartments . Moreover, these ongoing wars are costing a fortune! Billions of shekels, with no end in sight!

The state budget is slashing the budgets of all government ministries, except Defense (while millions of shekels are allocated to the ultra -orthodox and ultranationalist institutions, in the midst of the wars, for internal political reasons). Schools are barely functioning, except on a very part-time basis, via zoom, which does not work well for most children, except the best and the brightest. The airport is 90% closed and it is almost impossible to leave or enter the country. Thousands of people are still stranded abroad and thousands more want to flee the country, which feels like one big prison at the moment. It’s an ongoing disaster, for which the people of Israel are not really prepared, not on such a long-term basis.

While all this is happening, settler violence is running rampant in the Wild West Bank. Pogroms against innocent Palestinians are committed every day and every night by radical anarchist Jewish young people, with support from Ben Gvir’s police and Smotrich’s army (he is a minister in the Defense Ministry, in charge of the West Bank, thanks to Bibi’s coalition agreement of 3 years ago!). This is a moral tragedy for Jews, Judaism and the state of Israel. And there is no end in sight, since it is part of this extremist government plan of creeping annexation.

Can we in Israel continue to live with this war for much longer? Weeks? Months? Can we really adjust ourselves to this “new normal” of constant war, no work, no schools, no cultural events, no travel, ad infinitum? I don’t think so.

The effects of these endless wars upon the citizens of Israel are devastating and debilitating in every way—psychologically, physically, professionally, economically, militarily and morally. The government —which does not stop for a minute with its lies and fake promises—is driving us all crazy. This is no way to live, week after week, month after month, year after year.

It is high time for the government of Israel to find another way to deal with our neighbors besides wars, which do not really solve any of our problems and make a huge mess of our lives, driving us crazy. The famous Israeli author and peace activist, David Grossman, wrote about this in his latest book:

How will we learn—so that we are never again surprised—to live a full life on the knife’s edge? But who, in fact, wants to live their life and raise their children on the knife’s edge? And what price will we pay for living in constant watchfulness and suspicion, in perpetual fear? Who among us will decide that they do not want to—or cannot –live the life of an eternal soldier, a Spartan?

How will we learn—so that we are never again surprised—to live a full life on the knife’s edge? But who, in fact, wants to live their life and raise their children on the knife’s edge? And what price will we pay for living in constant watchfulness and suspicion, in perpetual fear? Who among us will decide that they do not want to—or cannot –live the life of an eternal soldier, a Spartan?

What will become of us, Grossman wondered in his book The Thinking Heart? (see my book  review of this book in the Jerusalem Post of September 10, 2025)

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)