Israel’s Path Forward: From October 7 Accountability to National Recovery

As the Hebrew year begins, Israel confronts a past that refuses to recede. With the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre approaching within weeks, followed closely by national elections on October 27, the calendar demands an overdue reckoning.

The political system has long deferred this necessary accounting, but the calendar no longer permits delay.

Rosh Hashanah symbolizes renewal, yet true renewal requires more than forgetting. It demands an honest examination of failures, acceptance of responsibility, and a commitment to different choices. Israel must embrace this standard.

The massacre was a Hamas atrocity, and Hamas bears ultimate responsibility. However, this does not exonerate Israeli leaders from the failures that left the nation vulnerable. Both realities can coexist, and acknowledging institutional shortcomings does not diminish the culpability of the attackers.

Nearly three years on, Israelis still deserve a credible public accounting of the decisions, assumptions, and institutional failures that preceded the attack.

An election cannot substitute for an independent investigation, but it can restore a vital democratic principle: those entrusted with the nation’s security must answer for their record.

Israel faces a fundamental choice: will it become a permanently mobilized and isolated state governed by emergency, grievance, and warfare? Or will it remain a secure, democratic Jewish state capable of translating military strength into political purpose, enforcing the rule of law, and preserving the alliances upon which its security depends?

The multitude of Israeli security challenges

What is the strategy for Gaza? How will Israel prevent another October 7 rather than merely promise prevention? How will it confront Iran and its proxies without allowing conflict to replace policy? How will it rebuild communities, care for the wounded, and support those who have borne the burden of military service?

This same test applies domestically. A government cannot demand sacrifice from reservists while indefinitely avoiding fair arrangements for military and national service. It cannot claim to defend democracy abroad while treating independent institutions as domestic enemies. Nor can it restore public trust while demanding accountability only from political opponents.

Israel’s international standing must also be part of this reckoning.

This week, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused extremist settlers of ethnic cleansing in parts of the West Bank and announced measures against settlement trade. Israel has every right to challenge what it views as false, selective, or inflammatory accusations, and should continue to expose the double standards, historical distortions, and antisemitism that often accompany international criticism.

However, indignation is not a foreign policy. This newspaper warned in 2024 that Israel could not afford to become a pariah state, and the belief that it could simply fight alone remains dangerous.

That warning has only grown more urgent. Israel cannot control the prejudices of its enemies, but it can control its own policies, the conduct of its officials, and whether extremist violence is confronted or tolerated.

When allies believe Israel will not restrain lawlessness in the West Bank, they begin drawing distinctions and imposing consequences. Condemning their response does not remove the underlying danger. Israel must enforce the law, protect Palestinians from violence, and prevent ideological extremists from determining its diplomatic future.

Hope does not rely on one camp alone

There is reason for hope, but it does not rest solely on the victory of one camp or the defeat of another. It rests on Israel’s continuing ability to correct course through democratic means.

Voters should demand concrete answers: an independent October 7 inquiry, a fair sharing of national obligations, clear political objectives for military power, protection of democratic institutions, and a serious plan to repair relations with allies and Jewish communities abroad.

The shofar is not a sound of self-congratulation; it calls us to wake from slumber.

Israel’s strength has never depended on pretending to be mistake-free. It depends on recognizing danger, adapting to it, and refusing to lose the moral and democratic purpose for which the country exists.

This year must be the one in which reckoning finally becomes repair.

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