A clear sign of dysfunction and that something is not working is when governments deflect blame instead of taking responsibility. This became strikingly evident on Monday with the news that Israel had released Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital, from prison.
Abu Salmiya had been arrested in November, accused of allowing his hospital to be used by Hamas as a command center, something the IDF later confirmed during its operation at the compound in April, where it killed 200 terrorists and detained hundreds more.
After videos of Abu Salmiya being greeted upon his return to Gaza circulated on social media, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – the man who never does anything wrong – accused the defense minister and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief of “security negligence.”
“The time has come for the prime minister to stop [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and the head of the Shin Bet from conducting an independent policy contrary to the position of the cabinet and the government,” Ben-Gvir said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not one to fall into a trap of this kind, immediately distanced himself from Abu Salmiya’s release.
“The decision to release the prisoners followed discussions at the High Court on a petition against the detention of prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility,” the Prime Minister’s Office said, adding that the hospital director was released without the knowledge of the “political leadership.”
Netanyahu finished by ordering an investigation into the matter.
Gallant continued the escape from responsibility and said he had no knowledge about which detainees were released.
“The authority for incarcerating security prisoners and their release is under the Shin Bet and the Israel Prisons Service and is not subject to the approval of the defense minister,” his office said.
Who is responsible for the Shin Bet? Netanyahu. And for the Prisons Service? Ben-Gvir.
In other words, no one knew anything about the release of someone who had allegedly aided and abetted a murderous terrorist group, and no one is responsible. Reassuring, right?
Evasion of responsibility long before Shifa hospital
If Israel were not in the middle of a war and not on the cusp of decisions that have the potential to determine the fate of a nation, and definitely the 120 hostages who remain in Gaza, the Abu Salmiya story would be nothing more than just another symptom of one of the most ineffective governments in Israeli history. But it is more and shows the collective evasion of responsibility that has characterized this government since October 7.
Nine months into the war, not a single government official has taken responsibility for the disaster that has struck Israel – war on two fronts, hundreds of dead, entire towns desolate and evacuated in the North and the South, and an economy in decline.
The only person to have stepped down is the head of Military Intelligence, but otherwise, while some people have said they are responsible, no one has acted. Instead, the government throws blame.
The Prisons Service is under the purview of Ben-Gvir? Who cares, the Shin Bet is responsible. The Shin Bet is subordinate to Netanyahu? He, of course, didn’t know what happened, just like he didn’t know about October 7 or any other disaster that has occurred under his long terms in office.
The same has played out with the release of the hostages. Instead of being the issue that unites the nation and that the government promotes every day and all day, it has become completely politicized.
On the one hand, it seems that the public protests to release the hostages have morphed into the battle to oust Netanyahu, and on the other side, supporting a hostage deal makes it seem like you are opposed to Israel winning the war.
This all happens when there is no clarity and no accountability. Everyone does what they want, and says what they want without a clear strategy.
In times of crisis, true leaders emerge by facing challenges head-on, accepting responsibility, and making difficult decisions for the greater good.
Unfortunately, the current leadership in Israel has shown a troubling pattern of evasion and blame-shifting, undermining the nation’s ability to navigate these turbulent times.
We need to rise above politics and prioritize the fate of the hostages and the security of the country. The future of Israel depends on it.
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Another perspective
On Tuesday night, at about 10:30, my wife Chaya and I were on our way back from the Tel Aviv area to our home in Jerusalem. Just after Shoresh junction, directly opposite the famous Elvis gas station on Road 1, my car died. Literally. Just stopped.
Hopeless and not knowing the first thing about how to fix a car, I called the insurance company that sends a mechanic and tow truck. “We will be there in about five hours,” the woman told me on the line.
Chaya said to call Yedidim, a volunteer organization that helps people who are stranded on the side of the road. I had heard of them but never experienced what they did firsthand. Was I in for a surprise.
I explained to the person who answered the Yedidim hotline what had happened. He said that someone would be there shortly and within 20 minutes, a car pulled up and Nehorai jumped out.
A young father who works in renovations, Nehorai lives in the haredi town of Telz Stone, right across the highway from where we were stranded. He had just gotten home from a long day of physical labor and when he got the alert, he left his wife and kids and came to help us.
He spent 40 minutes trying to get the car back up and running. He consulted with a few of his fellow Yedidim colleagues, tried a few more things and when we concluded that it was a computer failure that required service at a maintenance center, he gave Chaya and me a ride to a nearby town from where we could get a taxi home.
I have plenty to say – and I often do – about the ultra-Orthodox and their refusal to serve in the IDF. But Yedidim – one of the largest volunteer organizations in Israel founded by haredim – shows another aspect of life in Israel. Nothing is black and white. Worth keeping that in mind.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.