As Israelis approach the second anniversary of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on October 7, 2023, they recall the painful day that struck them hard, costing many lives and heavy losses. Today, two years later, they fear they may fail to recover, not due to a lack of military strength, but because of corrupt leadership, lack of responsibility, and poor management.

Shimon Shapira, political advisor and former director-general of the office of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, said, “On October 6, 1973, my life changed forever, as did the life of my entire generation, because that war was a resounding slap to the state after the euphoria of the 1967 war. As a result, we paid a heavy price: thousands of soldiers did not return, and many who did were not the same.”

He pointed out that “not a single street in the country escaped harm: 2,600 dead, 7,500 wounded, and tens of thousands injured for life. It was a heavy price paid by society due to blindness, arrogance, political folly, and misjudgment bordering on lawlessness.”

Shapira added in an article published on Walla and translated by Arabi21 that “this devastating loss was not fate, nor an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or meteor strike, but a colossal failure resulting from blind faith in a concept and unwillingness to act. Everyone responsible for this failure paid the price: Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan left the scene, and four years later, the Labor Party that built and led the state paid the political price and was sent to the opposition.”

He noted that “Israel and its generation at the time were all left with lasting scars to this day, decades of post-trauma shock, sleepless nights, and anxiety, paying the price with heavy hearts. When Hamas launched its attack on October 7, 2023, fifty years and one day later, what seemed like a historic failure due to unprecedented blindness and incapacity paled in comparison to the disaster of October 7.”

But it is not a disaster, as disasters happen by accident or a higher power. He explained, “October 7, 2023, unlike October 6, 1973, is the result of deliberate chaos, years of warnings, shouting, and pleas facing a dictator in the making, blind, drunk on power, irresponsible, the worst Jewish leader since the destruction of the Temple two thousand years ago.”

Two thousand Jews paid with their lives due to the incompetence and blindness of Benjamin Netanyahu and his group; tens of thousands walk wounded in body and mind; an entire country suffers psychological trauma, and hundreds of thousands of children will live with it forever.

Shapira confirmed, “I fear we will not be able to recover from the October 7 war, not because Israelis lost the ability, but on the contrary, they showed much greater determination than their failed leaders, but because our leadership is corrupt, irresponsible, and above all, malicious, willing to sacrifice its citizens to stay in power, even if no state remains.”

Today, because of this government, it is much harder to face Hamas, as we lack the necessary tools, and the bargaining chips are in the hands of crazy ministers.

He added, “The government and its ministers see themselves fighting an endless war with the whole world to achieve their messianic vision. They sincerely believe these are the days of the Messiah.”

After the 1973 war destroyed trust in the old leadership and paved the way for a political coup that brought Menachem Begin to power, October 7, 2023, destroyed trust in the state itself, Israelis’ trust in the government, army, and themselves.

This is not post-trauma shock but disintegration, and the result is that we see our children fleeing the state, with destruction looming on the horizon.

Shapira concluded, according to Walla, that what remains for Israelis today is “one bullet in the barrel, a last step before losing what they try to save of the state, under a government that turned the police into a private militia and caused incitement, division, and internal conflict, making the option to expel it inevitable, or else the scars of October 7 will continue to haunt them indefinitely.”