This week reminds us of Howard Cosell’s most famous quote in reverse. Rather than “snatching a strategic victory from the jaws of the Oct. 7 defeat”, our political leaders are busy “snatching strategic defeat from the jaws of military victories”.

To be absolutely clear, on Oct. 7 Israel suffered its greatest defeat and the wars in Gaza and Lebanon can never truly be considered a victory. We would gladly have avoided it all; and if we could turn back the clock we would prevent it from happening.  But it did happen and the IDF has since had amazing victories on the battlefield that have effectively removed many of the most dangerous threats against Israel (and the world as a whole). While we credit our brave soldiers who paid, and continue to pay, a heavy price; we believe that it could have ended sooner if our political leaders were more focused on the needs of the country rather than their own narrow political interests.

This week, rather than build on the unity of the soldiers in the field and strengthen Israel, the coalition government has focused its energy on bringing back divisive legislation that threatens to cause Israel to implode. Is this an exaggeration? Maybe, but based on the internal turmoil of the 10 months that preceded Oct. 7 - this apocalyptic scenario is quite real.

Many (possibly most) Israelis are truly scared that Israel is on the path to something closer to a dictatorship or monarchy that rules over its subjects than a democracy that serves its citizens. To be fair, some of those who support the “judicial reforms” fear that our Supreme Court has overstepped its authority to the point of preventing an elected government from governing. The fear of judicial overreach is not totally without basis; for years the Court itself has tried to return issues to the Knesset rather than make rulings.

Unlike the United States, Israel does not have a written constitution, a true separation of powers, or term limits on the Prime Minister. In Israel, the Executive Branch effectively controls the Legislative Branch and the only independent sources of power are the Judicial Branch and the Civil Service. After nearly 15 years in office (with a short 1 1/2 year interlude), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to destroy much of the independence of the top Civil Servants by appointing mediocre people who are afraid or unable to stand up to him. Leaders of both the military and other security services who did not subscribe to his “conception” that Hamas could be bought off were not promoted - and all signs to the contrary were ignored until Oct. 7, 2023.

This week we focus on the continued rise in antisemitism worldwide, especially in western countries like the U.K., Europe, the United States, Australia and at the United Nations. Not that life in Israel has returned to normal - it hasn’t.

Despite today’s reports of a breakthrough in negotiations for the release of some of the hostages, we fear that our Prime Minister is still more concerned about the fate of his coalition than of hostages suffering (according to reports in the Hebrew press, a Qatari newspaper claimed that Hamas issued a list of hostages that they are willing to include in the first stage of a deal in return for a list of prisoners that Israel is willing to release in exchange. The Hamas list reportedly includes 4 American citizens who do not meet their “humanitarian criteria”). While the news in Syria is probably the most dramatic event of this week - we don’t yet have any insights to share that are any better than what you are seeing on the news.

On the other hand, you might enjoy reading the The Israeli Theater of the Absurd section  which includes Netanyahu’s attempts to delay taking the stand as a defendant where we think he treats Trump as his Patsy. And of course - it is important that you read the 100 Hostages section.

In any case, this week we’ve compiled a number of incidents around the world that we think show a dangerous pattern of organized antisemitism similar to what led to the rise of Nazi Germany as opposed to a series of isolated incidents.

It may be easier to just blame Prime Minister Netanyahu or a few of his more outrageous coalition members, but the truth is that our leadership failure goes far deeper. In 1976, the American Bicentennial celebrations took precedence over the fate of the remaining Americans being held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda, such as Janet Almog, after all the non-Jewish Americans had been released, it was the tiny country of Israel who exhibited the leadership that the Ford Administration lacked in releasing the hostages.

Now, 48 years later, the personal involvement of both President Biden and President-elect Trump are exhibiting in their efforts to free the 101 hostages held in Gaza provide a sharp contrast to the total lack of interest that Israel’s political leadership show toward the fate of their own citizens. With the sole exception of recently fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, not a single minister or member of the ruling coalition have found the time to meet with as many members of the hostage families as these two foreign leader have.