Political factionalism is now Israel’s deadliest foe

Alan Dershowitz, meanwhile, who knows both Netanyahu and the former chief justice Aharon Barak personally, offered “the case for compromise”.

Our front page was dominated by a column by the Chief Rabbi, in which he urged a cooling of passions. “Jewish unity is not only a noble aspiration,” he wrote, “it is a sacred responsibility – for politicians, leaders, activists and for us all, both in Israel and around the world.” The paper’s leading article called on the Jewish community to “reject extremists from all quarters and see the best in each other”.

The ructions over the proposed judicial reforms represented the nadir of Jewish disunity, with one side attempting to supplant constitutional norms in pursuit of ideological objectives while the other sought to undermine military service in protest.

But what the antagonists did not account for sufficiently was how the real enemies of the Jewish people would exploit the strife. In a stuffy tunnel under Gaza, Yahya Sinwar was crossing off the days.

Aside from modern Israel, there have only ever been two Jewish sovereign states in history: the Kingdom of David of 1,000 BCE and the Hasmonean Kingdom, which arose about 900 years later. Both collapsed in their eighth decade. The first split into Judah in the south and Israel in the north; the second divided in a similar way, allowing it to fall under the rule of Rome. Both disasters flowed from the same evil: “sinat chinam”, or empty hatred for other Jews.

As the modern state of Israel approaches to its 80th year, sinat chinam is rife once again.

This pathology is found not only in the Jewish homeland but also throughout the diaspora.

Some Jews outside Israel have made it their business not merely to criticise Netanyahu but to attack him with a level of vitriol more usually associated with Islamists than internal opponents.

Many others, whatever their disquiet, have preferred to temper their criticism.

They are mindful that a world which routinely accuses Israel of “apartheid” will use any sign of Jewish disunity to sharpen their own attacks.

But in the current maelstrom, something precious is being jeopardised. No longer are we able to accommodate comfortably our unique disputatiousness. Instead, even as the anniversary of October 7 approaches, many partisans are so intent on defeating the other side of the argument that they have lost sight of the greater danger to all of us.

Will the state of Israel’s eighth decade find history repeating itself for a third time?

I think sometimes of an ugly and often forgotten episode that took place during Israel’s 1948 war of independence.

Smoke rises from the Altalena off the coast of Tel Aviv, June 22, 1948-

The Irgun – a rightist militia commanded by Menachem Begin – had imported a large consignment of arms aboard a cargo ship called the Altalena. After she docked, the rival Haganah, still finding its feet as the nascent Israel Defence Force, demanded that the arms be handed over to them.

A standoff ensued which deteriorated into violence, with the Haganah opening fire upon the defiant Irgun. Nineteen lives were lost. A greater conflagration was only averted by the decision of Begin to stand down his troops. He saw the bigger picture: further infighting at a time of peril may have weakened Jewish forces, costing them their state.

May we be blessed with that same gift of judgment. Yes, the Netanyahu administration is deeply divisive.

Yes, there are those on the left who are motivated by political zeal, with some even flirting with the “anti-Zionism” of the very people who would dance on all of our graves. But all Jews must embrace the wisdom of our forefathers.

As Rosh Hashanah approaches – and beyond it the sombre anniversary of October 7 – let us remember that we are one family.

And families, whatever their differences, come together when it matters.