For people who want to understand the collective mood, here is Lior Ben Ami's op-ed from Ynet this morning, Israel's most popular news site. Source: https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/yokra14274351, google translated with some corrections by me.
Another chance to bow our collective heads
Today we grieve for the murder of two children and a mother who was left to protect them alone, and in some place we grieve for ourselves. For our priorities that were wrong. For not understanding that we had to fight for such a basic value: children's lives. For trusting too much in those who were supposed to do what was right.
Today, as if given another chance to bow our collective heads, the people will once again stand on the side of the road, sighing wordlessly in the cold air. They will show respect, they will feel pain.
Kfir, Ariel and Shiri Bibas have unwillingly become a symbol of broken humanity. A symbol of boundless cruelty. But also a sad reflection for us. For not being there for them. Not when they were attacked and kidnapped; not when it was clear that freeing four- and nine-month-old toddlers is urgent, now, before any other mission, before revenge; And not when it was necessary to stand as a determined people against a prime minister who had drifted far from the good of his country, and who has been broadcasting from a lonely island of politics and slogans since then.
So today we grieve for the murder of two children and a mother who was left to protect them alone, and in some place we grieve for ourselves. For our priorities that were wrong. For not understanding that we had to fight for such a basic value, children's lives. For trusting too much in those who were supposed to do what was right. Kfir, Ariel and Shiri must be our "never again".
Somehow, in the sanctity of today, we will not be able to resist turning a glance to the side again. To see if he [Bibi Netanyahu] is still there. He jumped to show empathy for the pain of his people. Like children who never stop waiting and being disappointed
The truth? No matter how our prime minister chooses to act, whether he makes a video address to the nation or does nothing, it will not change.
One way or another, the word "cynical" will be mentioned. And a dismissive hand will be waved. And not for nothing. The man who made his own choices at crossroads determining his people's fate. The one who preferred to stay in a luxury hotel in Washington when an entire nation was shocked by the condition of the returned hostages. The one who repairs a window at the price of a community center. The one who to this day acts as if Nir Oz is somewhere near a river in Africa - he is the last person who should tell us "a turbulent day is expected tomorrow." Or give us a look like someone who is shocked. Come on, as they say.
He was once the king of populism. The "top personality" of politics. Like somebody who promised aliens on live TV, Netanyahu promised "Iran" and "security" and then "total victory" and "just one more step." And he knew how to say what he wanted. He said "you are sour," he said "we are not interested in you," he said "super tanker," and we applauded like seals.
Today there is someone here, devoid of trust, who sweats to fit in but fails. Who recycles statements that once worked like "negotiation instead of just giving," and so on, only to discover it no longer works. Just like his displays of shock.
He is the last person worthy of holding photos of the Bibas family in his hands and crying out. Certainly not at the expense of the pain of the family. He's the one who led us to our disasters and pain so he shouldn't be waving them about.
We're also fed up with this trick of his, by the way. Responsible for the greatest disaster in our history, yet complaining; dragging out the legal proceedings against him, yet whining; sabotaging negotiations for the hostages, yet accusing; an entire campaign to avoid a political plan, an alternative government to Hamas, and then expressing shock at ceremonies held by an organisation [Hamas] that he – not the military – failed to blow away. To return to fighting under this man would be to return to a dead end.
"To my father's funeral - if they return his body from Gaza," tweeted Boaz, son of the late Aryeh (Zalman) Zelmanovich, aged 86, "will be invited only those government ministers who came to offer condolences during shiva or spoke with me during the last 506 days will be invited." Here is the list, he continued, and then - not a single name appeared on the list.
This will be, among other things, Netanyahu's legacy. Zero empathy and identification. Zero connection to the people. This is the reason why even if they [ministers, public officials] stand today with their people at the roadsides, shedding tears, we still won't feel that they are with us.