The return of the remains of Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, Lior Rudaeff, and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin for burial in Israel brings us one step closer to closing the loop set in motion on October 7, 2023. Our leaders remain determined to bring all the fallen back to their loved ones. Due to the valiant efforts of IDF soldiers, the leadership of our government, and the continued support and pressure from President Donald Trump and his diplomats, a successful outcome is now in sight.
But… success is a subjective noun. Shortly after the debacle of October 7, the Prime Minister announced three goals of the war with Hamas:
Destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Bringing all captives back home.
Ensuring that Israel will never again be threatened from the South.
Goals 1 and 2 have mostly been achieved. Goal 3 is more elusive. The threat from the South, and indeed from the East, remains because at least 50% of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank still approve of the October 7, 2023 massacre and support Hamas in its quest to remain armed. Such prevalent support from millions of Palestinians is indicative of our failure to overcome the indoctrination of Palestinian society. This thorn in our side cannot be ignored.
Like many Israelis, I applaud our successes. The last two years have been challenging. Our children’s and grandchildren’s lives were on the line. We spent many hours in safe rooms. Ballistic missiles and drones pounded us from different directions and caused extensive damage. Thousands of Israelis lost their homes. Nevertheless, militarily we dominated Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Assad in Syria. Our defense systems, while not impregnable, saved countless lives and preserved infrastructure. Our ingenious, farsighted planning and intelligence enabled us to strike deep into enemy territory and disable odious threats against our existence. Despite internal disharmony and political dysfunction, we held together under pressure from former allies and long-term enemies.
Notwithstanding the above, there remain challenges that must be addressed. Israeli pundits do not hesitate to place blame and are loath to credit contributions by those with different political orientations. The fragile unity that bonded us following October 7 is beginning to erode. We are reverting to stereotyping and sloganizing to denigrate those with whom we disagree. But words are powerful, sometimes cause irreparable damage, and must be used prudently.
Remaining failures threaten to undermine our recent successes.
Inequalities in service to the State. All citizens of Israel must do some national service. This includes secular and religious, men and women, Muslim, Jew, and Christian, Arab, Druze, and Jew. National service is a foundation for citizenship and patriotism. It binds people by providing a common purpose. Israeli society has many needs that will benefit from compulsory societal participation. National service need not be identical, but all must serve.
Our political system needs fine-tuning. There is no political system without flaws. In Israel during the last 15 years, the struggle to elect a stable government and the outlandish power of small splinter parties has caused many to lose faith in our electoral system. When Naftali Bennett became Prime Minister, he headed Yamina, a party with 7 seats out of 120 in the Knesset. Two powerful ministers in the present coalition represent only 7% and 5% of the electorate. Due to their repeated threats to leave the coalition, they wield outsized influence on government policy. It is time for Israel to create procedures that will lead to a government that is not subject to blackmail by splinter parties.
Separation of powers. The U.S. Constitution created checks and balances in the federal government in the form of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. This balance may now be endangered by an aggressive executive and a Congress that is ceding its proscribed powers. Nevertheless, next year will commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence in 1776 — an unprecedented tenure for a democracy. The battle between the Prime Minister–led ruling coalition in the Knesset and the legal prerogatives of the Israeli High Court has created the perception of an erosion of Israeli democracy. The widespread anti-government protests over alleged attempts to weaken the court were a causative factor in Hamas’s decision to attack. Israel needs to create processes that maintain the independence of the Knesset and the legal oversight by the High Court. Democracy cannot thrive when the Head of State has unchecked power.
Independence of Key Agencies. In a democracy, security forces must be subservient to elected officials. Many “democracies” have been toppled because an ambitious general or military leader exceeded his authority. In Israel the IDF, the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the Police all report to the government. During the war, the population was shaken by in-fighting between politicians and heads of these critical agencies. This battle was complicated by the involvement of the Attorney General’s office and the High Court in decision-making. Due to the apparent chaos resulting from this multipartite squabble, many allies and friends concluded that the government was dysfunctional. We need to do better in the future.
Conflicts of Interest. Many Israelis are strongly supportive of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Subsequent to October 7, he has been a strong leader who never wavered from his stated goals. He has led Israel through an existential threat and to the military defeat of its most hostile enemies. However, he is accused of conflicts between his personal legal status and the interests of the State. Is the country well served when the Prime Minister remains in office under indictment for serious crimes? Do his legal struggles hinder his ability to perform his job and place every decision he makes under a cloud of apparent conflict of interest? Should those indicted for felonies be allowed to govern while the charge is adjudicated? Israel, as a light unto the Nations, must not settle for anything less than the highest standards.
Israel as a Pariah State. A tragic outcome of the Hamas–Israel war is the pervasive outbreak of virulent antisemitism and aggressive anti-Zionism. On October 7, we were the victims of a barbaric premeditated attack that sought to murder and kidnap Jews and destroy Israel. We know that our response was legitimate and that our soldiers fought according to international standards of combat. Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups have continuously killed Israelis, and abused and tortured their “brothers and sisters” in Gaza since 2007. Notwithstanding these facts, the perception of Israel throughout much of the Western-aligned world — and ironically among significant percentages of our co-religionists in the United States — is at a low point. Vitriol and violence against Jews is commonplace and growing. Our leaders need to develop strategies that reverse this trend. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism represent an existential threat to our nation.
Absence of a State Inquiry. After the commencement of the Iron Sword campaign, there were demands for a State Inquiry into the October 7 debacle. The governing coalition resisted such an inquiry while the war was ongoing. On October 22, 2025, the Knesset State Control Committee voted down the establishment of such a Commission of Inquiry. In a poll conducted by the Israeli Democracy Institute in September 2025, 74% of the public supported such a Commission. The establishment of an impartial, objective analysis of all factors leading to October 7 is essential for our country to heal and for us to develop procedures to prevent future attacks by our enemies. No excuses can justify stonewalling such a process.
After two long years at war, we can see many flowers in the Israeli terrain. Hundreds of thousands of young men and women willingly answered the call to defend our nation. Some — too many — made the ultimate sacrifice. Millions of our people displayed remarkable resilience and patriotism. But throughout this inspiring landscape many thorns remain. These must be systematically identified and uprooted. It is more critical than ever that Jews throughout the world remain united on the central importance of a Jewish State and that we choose leaders who are worthy of the Israeli people. Our future existence depends on it.
Dr. Fred Naider is a former Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the College of Staten Island and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the City University of New York.