The State of Israel is in a crisis and needs our prayers

Israel is in an internal and external crisis, and needs our prayers more than ever before.

In recent days, following failure of negotiations in Doha under leadership of the USA and Qatar, Israel took the decision to renew military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Times of Israel reports that “Israel on Monday night launched surprise airstrikes on terror targets across Gaza, killing over 400 people, according to the Strip’s Hamas-run health ministry. The airstrikes spelled the end of the ceasefire and hostage release deal that Israel had signed with Hamas in January.”

In the meantime, a political and social crisis threatens to tear the country apart.

Many are concerned that Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir was restored to the Israeli National Security Ministry on Wednesday night, an hour after the Knesset voted to re-admit his faction to the coalition government. On Tuesday hours after the truce collapsed and the Israel Defense Forces resumed military operations in Gaza, Otzma Yehudit reached an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party to return to government and their previously-held ministerial positions. Ben-Gvir’s return as national security minister was opposed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara who had claimed it was illegal to reappoint him amid a Supreme Court case seeking his dismissal due to alleged misconduct as the minister overseeing the police before he quit.

“A political and social crisis threatens to tear the country apart.”

Yesterday, the Israeli cabinet fired Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency. This is the first time in Israeli history that the government has fired the head of the domestic security agency. Shin Bet is currently undertaking an investigation into alleged payments by Qatar to members of the Prime Minister’s staff. In a letter to the Cabinet, Bar said his dismissal is based on “unfounded claims that are nothing more than a cover for completely different, extraneous and fundamentally invalid motives designed to disrupt the ability of the Shin Bet to fulfill its role.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu is also threatening to sack the Attorney-General, Gali Baharav-Miara.

President Isaac Herzog has expressed deep concern about these developments.

“It’s impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes,” said the president. “Thousands of reserve call-up orders have been issued recently,” said Herzog. “It is inconceivable to send our sons to the front while at the same time pursuing controversial moves that deepen division within the people.”

“Unfortunately, we are witnessing a series of unilateral actions, and I am deeply concerned about their impact on our national resilience,” said Herzog. “I demand that every step be carefully considered and examined to see whether it contributes to national resilience, and especially whether it contributes to the war effort and the return of the hostages.”

There are huge tensions within Israeli society about the way the country should handle the war against Hamas and free the remaining hostages. Some fear a civil war. Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak says that “the main problem is Israeli society is the eighth front,” a reference to Israel’s battles against Iranian proxies on seven fronts. “And that’s the severe rift between Israelis and themselves,” he says. “This rift is deteriorating and in the end, I fear, it will be like a train that goes off the tracks and plunges into a chasm causing a civil war,” he says.

Tensions are rising in Judea and Samaria, where for months the IDF and police have been fighting radical jihad cells. According to Israeli security officials, a “more intense front” could open in Judea and Samaria amid the resumption of combat with Hamas in Gaza.

In this very difficult time, let us intercede for the Jewish people, for the hostages, for the people of Gaza and the region, and for the leaders of Israel. 

It is hard to see any human solution to this tragic, intractable conflict, that will not cost massive amounts of lives. We must pray more ernestly for the Peace of Jerusalem, and the coming of the Prince of Peace, who alone can turn the hearts and minds towards His Kingdom.  

The agonizing dilemma
Melanie Philips at JNS: Hamas left Israel no alternative but to resume the war in Gaza. This has produced a predictable reaction in a world that remains determined to malign the Jewish state.
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Israeli Cabinet votes to sack Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar
JNS: “[He] will conclude his duties on April 10, 2025, or when a permanent director is appointed—whichever comes first,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
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‘Deeply troubled’ Herzog pans government for ‘divisive’ policies amid war
Times of Israel: President lambastes attacks on civil servants, calls for Oct. 7 probe, doesn’t mention PM by name, amid demonstrations against ouster of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
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Palestinians: ‘We Are Dying Because of Hamas’
Khaled Abu Toameh at Gatestone: Palestinians are again paying a heavy price as a result of Hamas’s refusal to release the remaining 59 Israeli hostages (almost half of whom are believed to be dead) held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
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