Author: Ariel E. Levite

It's an axiom that a nation's defense strategy must rest on four legs – diplomacy and statesmanship, military (including intelligence), economy and society and information (including public diplomacy). But over the last year, it has become clear that Israel is pinning all its hopes for security solely on one leg – the military. And the results have been commensurate with this single-minded focus. Its military achievements (both overt and covert), however impressive they may be, have been confined to operational gains.

We have scored great successes invading, killing and destroying our enemies to the extent needed, and perhaps even beyond it. But since those accomplishments haven't been accompanied by any effort on the diplomatic, socioeconomic and information fronts, Israel is faltering in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon, as well as against Iran and its proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The latest retaliation against Iran does not change this reality, with Iran retaining its highly advanced nuclear weapons threshold, and leveraging it.

Israel hasn't been wise enough to translate the investment, sophistication, risk and sacrifice entailed in its military gains into a better, stable security situation.

The threat horizon looks more worrying than ever. We're facing a guerrilla war of indefinite duration in Gaza, a wave of terror in and from the West Bank, both an air and a ground war in Lebanon, direct military clashes with a nuclearizing Iran and growing friction with its proxies throughout the Middle East and perhaps even beyond.

Israel's military power and intelligence prowess is succumbing to the toll exacted by the supreme effort invested in an entire year of constant fighting on multiple fronts. Meanwhile, one terror attack follows another. For every terrorist, let alone leader, we manage to kill, a successor thirsting for vengeance arises and manages to inspire others to follow him.

Deterrence, killing and destruction are at times absolutely necessary. But their benefits, if when real, are necessarily temporary and depend on a nonmilitary leg to complement them.

For now, Israeli society is bleeding, riven and scarred, while the fate of the hostages is gnawing away at our social contract. Most of the country's population depends on alerts from the Home Front Command, our air defense system and the Shin Bet to maintain any semblance of a normal life in light of the unending waves of rockets and missiles, drones and frequent terror attacks. Those hostages in Gaza who are still alive are enduring mortal suffering, and their numbers are dwindling. Only parts of society are still willing to enlist and/or continue serving in the military. Israel's economic situation is deteriorating and showing strains, while many businesses are moving their centers of activity abroad, either by choice or necessity.

The foundations of Israel's scientific, technological and commercial superiority are in real danger. The functioning of most government ministries has been pitiful and is driven mainly by narrow, short-term political considerations. Trust in them – and, even more importantly, in our ability to forge a better future for this country and nation – is disappearing among wide segments of society. Many, too many, have already despaired of living in Israel or are considering migrating.

The world is closing in on us. Even our best friends are having trouble standing beside us or backing us up, at the very moment when, more than ever before, we need their support and assistance, material, political and moral, both to sustain the fight now and to recover afterward. Belief in the justness of our cause is being steadily eroded in the absence of any viable vision that could present a credible alternative to a perpetual, multifront war.

The country's leadership, which in the past was wise enough to address all these issues, has consistently eschewed the opportunity to present Israelis or our partners elsewhere any credible vision for ending the fighting, any practical way to transform the fight and leverage its gains into a different, better, stable reality, or even to offer any strategy for surviving until then.

Nor are we seeing any realistic plan of action for coping with all of these challenges in the long run. Instead, myopia prevails, and we keep on hearing the mantra that we have to unite and support the leadership that is steering us into an escalating, never-ending war on multiple fronts.

But perhaps we're doing an injustice to the current government, and especially to the person who heads it, by implying that they have no strategic vision. Perhaps it does exist, but they simply haven't bothered to share it with us. Actions on the ground as well as statements here and there hint that this may indeed be the case, at least with regard to an ongoing occupation of Gaza and building some settlements there, annexing the West Bank and encouraging Palestinian migration from it (ultimately turning Jordan into Palestine), attacking Iran's nuclear facilities ourselves in the hopes that the United States will join in and finish the job once and for all, establishing a security zone in southern Lebanon and, above all, inciting our enemies' populations to rise up against their leaders in the hopes that regimes friendlier to Israel will emerge in their stead.

It seems clear that diplomatic agreements (starting with a hostage deal and continuing with forming an Arab-led governance scheme for Gaza, not to mention the West Bank) aren't part of the current government's agenda. Nor is a realistic plan to bolster our security, enhance social cohesion and mobilize society toward renewal, reviving the economy, improving Israel's international standing, strengthening Israel's relationship with the United States and more.

Given that we are a country whose future hinges on remaining a vibrant, modern society, our very survival as a nation now depends on closing ranks behind a clear vision and a plan of action to implement it, led by a competent political leadership and professional staff capable of advancing this. For this reason, Israelis now have no choice.

They must demand that the government immediately lay out for all to see its strategy for bailing us out of the current predicament – not only regarding the three neglected legs of the country's defense strategy, but also on how to maintain its military and security superiority over time given the serious challenges it faces both from within and without. For instance, over the long run, it can't continue relying on a constantly shrinking segment of society to bear the military burden, now that it's more difficult and burdensome than in the past.

But we should not confine this demand solely to the current leadership. Everyone in the opposition who presumes to provide an alternative to this leadership must be expected to do likewise. They must present us with their alternative vision, a practical plan of action and an inspiring team to carry them out. It's vital to have a public debate about these contrasting visions now, then put them to the voters for a decision.

Political leaders who refuse to explain to us their vision and plan of action for realizing it should be forced to vacate their positions immediately. Living by the sword forever, and continuing to run in place, are a surefire recipe for undermining the Zionist dream.

Dr. Ariel (Eli) Levite is a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.