A war for a degree of separation of religion and state is not a religious war.

Fifty years have passed, but in Israel it is still impossible to disentangle the tremble and awe of Yom Kippur from the trauma of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

On Tuesday, Israel’s High Court convened to hear the case for and against striking down the so-called “reasonableness law,” that would curb the top court’s power to exercise judicial review over government decisions.

Rather than solving problems, Israel shelves them, to be dealt with maybe next year, or by the next government, or when the next crisis materializes.

The crime rate — and murder rate  — of Arab Israelis has more than doubled this year. And Israel doesn’t seem ready to enact the type of measures that could tame this violent wave. 

What kind of arrangement can move Israel from a state of storm to a state of calm?

If Israel loses the IDF as a People’s Army, this will have practical and symbolic consequences.