𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗔 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 "𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀"!

 By Rahul Dixit 

Living up to its great tradition of fighting a crisis unitedly, Israeli political parties have come together to form a Unity Government. A deal to form a war-time Cabinet to oversee the operations against Palestinian militant group Hamas amid escalating violence in the region was made between Israel Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and top Opposition leader Mr. Benny Gantz. Other parties with different ideologies, too, have come together to monitor the massive crisis engulfing the Jewish nation.

The idea of a Unity Government is in line with the Israeli thinking since it got independence in 1948. The country has fought several wars with adversaries from the Arab world to a telling effect, in the process taking enemy territories and wrecking many a reputation. The best thing about Israel is its core belief in nationalism where various political affinities are relegated to the background when an enemy attacks the country.

There have been incidents when the Opposition came out in full support to help the ruling government pursue hard-core national security policies. One such instance was the dashing Operation Thunderbolt undertaken by then Prime Minister Mr. Yitzhak Rabin in 1976 to rescue passengers from a plane hijacked by Palestine Liberation Front terrorists who had flown the plane to Entebbe in Uganda. With Ugandan dictator Mr. Idi Amin supporting the militants, the military operation miles away from Israel was a daring call that Mr. Rabin and Defence Minister Mr. Shimon Peres were mulling over for long. The operation got a go-ahead as soon as the Prime Minister broached the subject to then Opposition leaders. The first response to Mr. Rabin from the political leaders was “Israel never negotiates with terrorists, Mr. Rabin. Go ahead, we are with you no matter how the operation ends”. This one, honest, bold assurance weighs in gold for Israel as its Defence Forces pulled off the operation to stun the world.

Similar responses by the political community have formed the essence of Israel’s security policy that always goes all-out against its adversaries. The current move by Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz is on those precise lines and has rightfully received full support from all quarters in Israeli politics which has been badly divided over certain policy matters. In one stroke, political divisions have been thrown aside for the sake of the country. It is a loud and clear message to opposition “alliances” in various countries!