What is this, for heaven's sake? How is it that a quite sizeable group of citizens who still haven't been vaccinated is refusing to take part in this step of salvation? Of course, it's obvious that this debate doesn't apply to followers of conspiracy theories, ordinary anti-vaxxers, the believers in rabbis and wizards and the rest of the nuts. I'm asking about normative citizens, the masses who just want "the right to ask questions." Who are only refusing "to be coerced." Who only want to "wait for the first wave to see what the side effects are." What has happened to them all? From where did they get the sense that it is legitimate to drop out of the public right now and throw themselves in the way of ending this nightmare?
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In two of the wars Israel has fought, unity governments were in power, and representatives of the opposition were invited to take part in the leadership. In other wars, even the ones that happened amid bitter political disputes, the opposition, or some of it, gave the government a safety net. Every Israeli knows the phrase, "This isn't the time for politics," and until now, political campaigns have been set aside when the cannons were booming.
In March 2020, Israel, along with the rest of the world, came under a colossal threat – one that even if there were measures in place to eradicate it, was enough to cause an existential-level disaster. Coronavirus arrived engulfed in the unknown. Innocent citizens looked to the government, which worked with all its power – in my opinion, in the best and most responsible fashion – but then noticed, consciously or unconsciously, something astonishing. Namely, that the political agenda was carrying on as usual. They saw the elections, the protests, the opposition, which not only did not put down its weapons and provide a safety net, but also continued its attacks and even used the new situation. This led the people to the conclusion that COVID wasn't anything major, or scary. In other words, it was clear to them that while it was all unpleasant, with people dying and all that, it "wasn't a war." How did they arrive at that conclusion? Because in a war, there is no opposition. When there is a situation that imperils our existence, there are no protests. People wait until the artillery goes quiet.
From the start, COVID had trouble getting people to believe in it. It's hard to sell the public on prohibitions and restrictions when rogue COVID deniers are appearing on television. But the government would have made it through the crisis, gradually winning the public's trust through hard work, and eventually the people sitting in quarantine would have acted as one and defeated the virus through vaccines.
But then politics came in. Every political campaign, every protest, every ad, all the media confrontations, have damaged the natural instinct to unite against a common enemy. That is how we will beat COVID, too, thank God, but only if we work hard and grit our teeth. This could have been Israel's finest year, but the opposition leaders couldn't hold back from continuing their political campaign, and of course, they dragged coalition leaders into it, as well, causing a huge missed opportunity and enormous damage.
Are Israelis refusing to get vaccinated because they don't believe in the government? It's uncertain. There are a lot of people who support the government among those who are declining the vaccine. Are Israelis allowing themselves to drop out of the public because of the political dispute that flooded the streets, convincing them that we aren't in the midst of a national emergency? That is 100% certain. This is the real politics of COVID.
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