Take to heart

The extraordinary remarks made on Wednesday night by the commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 98th Division are worth hearing again, amid the increased politicization of the Gaza war.

Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus spoke to reporters on the Gaza border, addressing the country’s leaders from the “heart of a soldier.”

Goldfus said he has been fighting since Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7 onslaught.

“I have not stopped fighting since,” he said. “Since then, I have not stopped sending soldiers, and gone with them, into the fire. We are fighting. We are not getting tired. We are determined to win, determined to bring home the hostages, directly or indirectly.

“We accomplish many achievements on the battlefield. But you must be worthy of us; you must be worthy of those soldiers who sacrificed their lives,” the frontline commander said, adding that the military would “not run away from responsibility.”

Goldfus’s heartfelt appeal was immediately embraced by the country’s right-wing leadership, with Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich heaping praise on the commander.

“We must remove all the factors of division, eliminate the divisive partitions, and banish gratuitous hatred from each other,” said Arbel.

Smotrich added: “His words that come from his heart must enter the hearts of all of us.”

However, beyond a Right-Left-Center issue, Goldfus’s statements touch at the core of the deep divisions that have arisen in Israel after a brief semblance of national unity in the aftermath of October 7.

There has been much rhetoric emerging from both sides of the political spectrum about the direction of the war, the inability to bring home the hostages, and the wartime policies of the government. At the same time, both sides are exploiting the war for their own political purposes.

There was an outcry at the end of January when Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his compatriots danced at a conference calling for the resettlement of Jewish Gaza communities. Leftwing MKs and families of hostages being held in Gaza deemed it dancing on the blood of those who had been killed in the war.

On the other side, the weekly protests calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster and for immediate new elections have returned – a different kind of dancing but one that is helping to create instability and strife in the middle of a war where mostly young soldiers are dying weekly.

Over the past week, reports of Ben-Gvir demanding a seat on the war cabinet and the split of Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope Party from Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party confirm that politics, which simmered on a back burner during the first few months of the war, are once again taking hold.

Like Goldfus, Gantz declared on Wednesday that “now was not the time for politics,” adding that “real operational needs and correct priorities were being harmed as a result of political conduct. Now we must concentrate on [what is] unifying, correct, and on victory. When the war ends, we will go to an election. Anyone who runs will explain what he’s proposing, and what he did during this difficult time for the country.”

Much has been made about the huge difference that exists between what the soldiers and reservists fighting in Gaza are feeling as opposed to the rest of the country.

Sheltered from the media onslaught that makes mountains out of every molehill and the mudslinging that permeates our daily existence in Israel, the fighters have been focusing on what Goldfus reminded us is of the utmost importance. And regardless of political persuasion or religious bent, they are working together against the common enemy of all Israelis – Hamas.

As they return from duty, many are shocked that the bitter divisions they left behind when they entered Gaza are back in full force. It’s no wonder that polls are all pointing to a reservists’ party as putting itself on the political map in the next elections.

But far before that, it would be wise for leaders and citizens alike to take Goldfus’s appeal to heart. We all must be worthy of the soldiers who are deep in Gaza, risking their lives to defeat Hamas and bring our national family members back home.

Until that is achieved, politics should be left on the side of the battle road.