(Yaakov Sharett 1927-2022)
The scenarios of conflict in Israel between political parties and ethnic groups will remain incapable of plunging Israel into a civil war. Many predicted, even before the establishment of the State of Israel, that a civil war among Israelis themselves would render the existence of a unified Israeli state impossible!
Many writers who predict the demise of Israel have not forgotten to mention certain events that support their theory. They cite historical events, such as the killing of Jewish immigrants to Palestine on November 25, 1940, eight years before the declaration of the establishment of Israel. On that day, Zionist terrorist organization intelligence agents bombed the ship Patria in Haifa port. The ship was carrying 1,800 new Jewish immigrants to Palestine. Israeli intelligence agents killed 267 of these immigrants to prevent their deportation to Mauritius by the British authorities. Harold Mitchell, the British High Commissioner, had refused them entry to Palestine because they lacked entry permits. The bombers claimed that the immigrants themselves had blown the ship up. Similarly, historians enamored with prophecies mention another story involving the ship Altalena, which occurred in the early months after the declaration of the state. The Altalena belonged to the Irgun terrorist organization and was loaded with weapons to support the authority of Menachem Begin in 1948, who sought to rival Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion, however, ordered the bombing of the ship to force the formation of a unified Israeli army.
These two events led many Arab and Israeli experts and analysts to conclude that an Israeli civil war was imminent. However, this war between Israel's diverse communities did not occur.
Another event, particularly discussed in Israeli left-wing newspapers, was the first assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by the ultra-Orthodox extremist Yigal Amir in 1995. This assassination was a protest against the signing of the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993. Many analysts spoke of an ethnic schism in Israel between two opposing currents: the Haredim and the secularists. They argued that a war between the two sides was inevitable, albeit postponed. However, this war between the secularists and the Haredim has not yet happened.
Similarly, when Sharon withdrew from the Gaza Strip settlements and dismantled them in 2005, deep divisions emerged between the political and religious factions of Israeli society. Many analysts also predicted ethnic conflicts within Israel's diverse and often contradictory social fabric. This was further fueled when the right-wing government announced in 2022 its intention to abolish the Israeli Supreme Court's rulings that hindered its settlement plans. The Haredim, in particular, sought to control the selection of Supreme Court judges. Extremists continued to strive to prioritize Knesset decisions over those of the Supreme Court. Disagreements also arose regarding the mandatory military service for Haredi students. This conscription is rejected by the Haredim because they prefer that Haredi men not mix with female soldiers, and because they consider the army immoral. They prefer that those required to serve be trained solely in Torah studies rather than enlist in the Israeli army. Despite all these issues, however, a serious schism did not occur between the ethnic and political groups in Israel.
Many observers and writers attribute the failure of the State of Israel to collapse primarily to the hostility of the Palestinian and Arab sides. Most Israelis have remained fearful of a civil war between different segments of Israeli society, lest they become prey to Palestinian and Arab terrorism. They unite in the face of this hostility; this hostility is the only thing that keeps them alive. Fear binds them together. They also constantly reiterate: "Israel is the only country in the world that, if defeated even once, would disappear from the map!"
Moshe Sharett, the second Israeli Prime Minister after Ben-Gurion in 1954, said: "Israel must maintain its readiness for war by deliberately provoking its neighbors to remain militarily vigilant and preserve the unity of its people!"
Predictions of internal Israeli conflict were not limited to analysts and journalists. General Shaul Mofaz predicted Israel's imminent disintegration, as did former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert quoted an unnamed Israeli historian who told him: "The bodies of Jews will float on the Yarkon River. These will not be the bodies of terrorist infiltrators, nor will they be the bodies of Israeli Arabs, but rather the bodies of Jews killed by other Jews!" (Israel National News, July 22, 2023).
It is also known that Yaakov Sharett, son of former Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett, published a book titled "The Death of Israel" in 1988. Yaakov Sharett, a Shin Bet agent, stated: "All Israelis should emigrate from Israel. Israel is a child of sin. How can I be governed by a prime minister who wears a kippah?" (Kol Al-Arab Newspaper, September 21, 2025)
The preceding news is not a feast for lovers of the occult and those addicted to predictions, nor for analysts seeking to attract an audience of gullible individuals. Rather, it indicates that many Israeli writers and prominent rabbis exploited the Ninth of Av in 2026, the holiday commemorating the destruction of the two ancient temples, to draw warnings against repeating the same mistakes. The first mistake was the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, and the second was the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Roman general Titus. These writers consistently employ historical events, regardless of their antiquity, to warn against repeating the same errors!
The writer, Shuki Friedman, said: "Fanaticism and hatred are the only things that will lead to the collapse of Israel. We must remember this so that we do not fall into the same trap. The Romans' success in suppressing the revolt of Simon Bar Kokhba in 132-133 CE was due to dissension and hatred. Israelis fear this in the Hebrew year."
