This war is not messianic, but the secular community has absolved itself of its responsibility
This war is not messianic, nor is it driven solely by Netanyahu’s political needs. It is deeply rooted in secular Israeli political culture, acknowledging that it became more extreme after October 7
By Yagil Levy • Translated by Sol Salbe
The anniversary of October 7 calls for a critical look at the role of Israel’s white tribe, the secular community, in the war. What sticks out in in any observation is the dread that messianism is taking over state’s helm. According to this perception, Israel is racing toward a regional war under the patronage of the extreme right-wing minority in the government. That group draws its power from the alliance it has forged with the Bibists, which ensure Netanyahu’s rule. The messianic minority strives to annex Gaza and renew its settlement project, annex the West Bank and even build a new Jewish Temple.
Those fears are not unfounded, but the picture is much more complex. For the sake of brevity, I will confine myself to putting the case that the way Israel conducts this war is not fundamentally different from the way it has conducted wars in the past. It is rational secular militarism, not the messianic variety, which dominates the state’s helm more than ever before.
The aircrews, intelligence officers, and the whiz-kids implementing the AI programs HaBsora [the Gospel] and Lavender are not messianic and are certainly not Bibists. Socially, they are part of the hard core of the Centre-Left. But they are also the ones responsible for the unprecedented killing of Gazan civilians in the first weeks of the war. Some showed enthusiasm for the killing and a desire for revenge, as investigative reporting has revealed. Lust for revenge is neither a Hardali [Ultra-Orthodox-Nationalist] nor a Mizrahi monopoly. The unrealistic war goals, detached from any political logic, and devoid of messianic baggage, were enthusiastically adopted by the Centre-Left, as well as by its intellectuals who were silenced by the “eliminating Hamas” mantra. So why should they complain when Benjamin Netanyahu is systematically leading the army to achieve this goal, even if it means an endless war?
The print and electronic media have blindly followed what were defined as the goals of the war and took care to ignore the scale of the killing and destruction on the other side. But the articles they actually published prove that they are not messianic. Even distinctly liberal institutions, which carefully avoided mentioning the suffering in Gaza, do not operate from messianism. Giora Eiland, one of the war’s most important ideologues, does not belong to the messianic community. His plan to tighten the siege on Gaza was certainly not intended to pave the way for a return to the settlements of Gush Katif. He represents an important current within Israeli secular militarism. While it is true that messianism in the West Bank has caused an escalation in violence against the Palestinians, this is only an increase from the far-from-low threshold created during the years when Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were a long way away from any governmental position.
It was also non-messianics who preached escalation in Lebanon who, did not seek a minute’s break to examine its consequences. The concept of a military strike unrelated to any political logic is embedded into Israel’s security doctrine DNA, according to which capability determines military action rather than political logic. The escalation was led by the army without any pressure from the right-wing cabinet. The enthusiasm for the military’s impressive technological capabilities has a theological dimension, but it is not messianic. Are the two Yairs, Lapid and Golan, who competed with each other in opposition to the ceasefire, messianic or Bibists? Nor are those demanding retribution dealt to Iran messianic.
This war is not messianic, nor is it driven solely by Netanyahu’s political needs. It is deeply rooted in secular Israeli political culture, acknowledging that it became more extreme after October 7. In desperation, the white secular tribe conducts purification rituals to absolve itself of responsibility for the moral and strategic consequences of the war. But this tribe must demand accountability from itself for the blood that has been spilled, and that it will still be spilt.
