Our state of Israel is marking its 72nd year. A mature age, which in a time of a pandemic forces us to stay isolated at home. But for a country, 72 is still lovely and young, while experienced in science, medicine, agriculture, and technology, and even knowing how to defend itself. It's in good shape.
The country has achieved all this on its own, but also thanks to us, the citizens, who were wise enough to protect the legacy we inherited – the basic understanding that despite endless existential threats, our country, with its eternal life, has commanded us to live in both rare days of peace but mostly in days of war. In the time of a pandemic, too. They say that in its 72 years, our young country still hasn't seen it all. But the reality today proves that anything can happen.
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That is precisely the reason why it must be defended from every threat, from every attack, because a country, even the strongest, can be fragile in the face of a threat from outside, as well as an internal one. Israel knew how to handle threats posed by other countries and organizations, and is still doing that, every hour of every day.
If there's not a war, it's only because of our deterrence. Israel is dealing, with no small measure of success, with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, in part because of the knowledge and experience it gained from earlier crises and emergencies. We can assume that it will know how to assess the expected economic crisis, but the crisis of government – which we still haven't navigated, despite the coalition agreement between the Likud and Blue and White – is what could cause the most harm to the delicate fabric of our society.
A stable government is a vital component to the security of our nation. Israel is strong enough to survive political crises, as this past year has proved. Three elections have not hurt the people's day-to-day lives. The opposite – they gave them three days off, although the public might have forgone two. But the wars between the branches of government have become an inseparable, disturbing, part of our routine, and that is something we cannot accept.
Our country has three branches of government, three important authorities, like other western democracies. There is no doubt that the idea of Baron de Montesquieu in the 18th century is still proving itself, but the separation of powers isn't a separation if each one interferes with the affairs of the other. Balance, yes, interference, no. The citizens of Israel feel right now that rather than one branch complementing the work of the other, the authorities are battling among themselves and fighting more to promote their own worldviews than to take care of our future.
Montesquieu said, "Something is not right because it is law, it is law because it is right."
This can help us understand the desire of the judicial branch to ensure that the law is just and voice its opinion. But it's a long way from that to canceling law and intervening in the work of the executive branch, the holiest of holies of public democracy. The public feels that its worldview, rather than examining the correctness of law, is the top priority for their honors and that examining the justice of the laws has turned into an interpretation of them, from a very specific angle.
Trust in the legal system is necessary for a successful democracy. There is a reason why this newspaper set five rules for itself, including the importance of the rule of law. Importance – but not superiority. Because just as an attack on the judicial branch would be considered crossing a red line in a functional nation, so are attacks on the other two branches, the Knesset (legislative) and the government (executive).
Government, in every democracy, changes, but the people does not. The people are sovereign. That has already become a trite saying, but it's the heart of the matter; the authorities are here to serve the people, not the opposite. None of the branches of government are above the people. And above them, there is only the people. Let the legislative branch legislate, the executive branch govern, and the judicial judge. And if it doesn't work that way, the public will judge. What do we want as a gift for our nation's 72nd birthday? That one branch of government not raise a sword against another branch, and that they will train for war no longer. Differences of opinion, definitely. A war at the expense of the state – no. Because what is a war between branches of government other than a precursor to a civil war? The eighth decade of life as a nation is a dramatic one, as our people know. Twice, we have reached eight decades of life as a united, sovereign people: once in the time of kings David and Solomon, and again in the time of the Hasmoneans. The first crumbled in its 73rd year, the second didn't end its eighth decade as a sovereign people in their own country. It wasn't because of a war or a plague; the real thing that ripped us apart was the internal strife.
It looks like the third time, we enter the 73rd year stronger and more stable than ever. But the world is changing around us. Our generation witnessed the collapse of a superpower like the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the murder of a prime minister by a Jew, the 9/11 attack, and now a global pandemic.
The world of yesterday has been thrown into a blender. What will come out? That's still not clear. But we know one thing: Israel will come out of this stronger because as with every other crisis, we simply have no alternative.
On this Independence Day, we will remember the fallen, who died so we could live. They didn't fight our enemies so we could fight each other. We will wish ourselves a happy celebration of independence, and peace between the branches of government, and peace to the people of Israel.
