There really is something unique about the Israeli people, and if we needed further proof, we got it once again this week.
The reservists who received call-up orders – men and women who have already fought in this war and many who only recently returned home – are once again being sent to the battlefield. These people have spent months away from their families, jobs, and lives, and finally got a short break. Now, with little notice, they are being called back – some for another 100 days of service.
And yet, they show up.
Despite predictions that motivation would plummet after more than a year and a half of war, the response rate to the latest round of call-up orders is remarkably high. It is no longer the 150% response we saw in the immediate aftermath of October 7, but still in the 90s, well above expectations. It is a testament not just to resilience, but to the national ethos of responsibility and commitment that exists here in Israel.
But that resilience was matched this week by an incredible political slap in the face. As reservists prepared to return to the battlefield, the Knesset opened its summer session with one key item on its agenda: passing a new IDF draft law that would, once and for all, codify the exemption of haredim (ultra-Orthodox) from military service.
Israeli reservists left with few choices
Imagine being one of those reservists. You’re sitting at home on Sunday night, catching your breath after months of war, just starting to rebuild your life, business, and marriage. You sit with your children at dinner. And then, as you watch the news and see the prime minister bending over backwards to appease his haredi coalition partners, your phone buzzes. It’s a WhatsApp message from your unit. You’re being called back.
Your spouse and kids look at you with anguish. They’ve barely had time with you. But you text in the unit group: “I’ll be there in the morning.”
THIS IS not a normal situation. And yet somehow, the country accepts it. Because Israel functions despite its government, not because of it. It manages because tens of thousands of Israelis – men and women, young and not-so-young – keep showing up, knowing that most of the 120 Knesset members do not really care.But the truth is that they don’t do it for them. They do it because they know that if they don’t come, the state they love and the homes they defend will not survive.
But we must stop pretending this is sustainable. This government, which is responsible for the failures that led to the Hamas invasion on October 7, continues to miss opportunity after opportunity to lead with courage.
The most glaring failure remains the government’s refusal to outline and implement a clear plan for Gaza. Is the war about returning the hostages or eliminating Hamas? Or is it both? If it is about removing Hamas from power, there needs to be a new governing entity in place, but the government refuses to decide.
It moves between conflicting goals, based on political interest rather than what is right for the nation. As a result, Hamas has managed to rearm, and 59 hostages remain in captivity.
Could this have been handled differently? Almost certainly. Everyone knows that the war cannot end in victory without the hostages’ return and the establishment of a new, stable authority to govern Gaza. If that is the objective, then we should be building toward it. Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to follow the fantasies of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who speak openly about reoccupying and resettling the Gaza Strip.
There may be one person with the leverage to change this: US President Donald Trump. He is scheduled to visit the Middle East in a few days and has hinted that he will make an important announcement regarding Gaza. His repeated calls for humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinians suggest that he may try to push Israel to hold back on expanding the ground operation.
Privately, some IDF officers are hoping he succeeds. Without a political plan, a broader invasion risks just doing more of what has already been tried. More soldiers will be killed, more hostages will die, and whatever sliver of international legitimacy Israel still retains will be gone. We will be right back where we started, except worse.
WHILE THAT debate plays out, another national disgrace unfolds in plain sight: the refusal to draft the haredim.
Let’s be blunt: This is a stain on the country. It is a betrayal of every reservist who drops everything when called and reports for duty. They don’t do this because of a medal they might receive or some future tax break; all they want is equality and a basic social contract where everyone shares in the national burden. After 77 years, that should not be too much to ask.
And yet, the government is working against its own people.
There are rare exceptions, people like Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who has pledged to block any legislation that further entrenches this injustice. But Edelstein stands mostly alone and, in the end, can easily be pushed aside by Netanyahu, who has done so to others who stood in his way.
This situation can still be turned around. But it requires real leadership, a kind that is willing to take political risks in service of the national interest. It requires placing the good of the country ahead of narrow coalition interests.
When it comes to Gaza, that means fighting Hamas with determination while laying the groundwork for a postwar reality that prevents its return. That means considering real alternatives for governance in Gaza, including ones that have a Palestinian component.
When it comes to the haredi draft, it means saying no to ultra-Orthodox demands, even at the risk of losing the government and doing now what should have happened years ago – drafting everyone. Yes – everyone.
The reservists understand this. They uphold the country’s security and dignity out of choice. What they deserve in return is a government that respects their sacrifices and not one, like we have now, which abuses them.
The reservists are doing their part. It is time for the government to do the same.
The writer is the co-author of a forthcoming book, While Israel Slept, about the October 7 Hamas attacks, a senior fellow at the JPPI, and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.