One Year Since October 7th: A Conversation with Ilana Dayan

Ilana Dayan delves into the deep complexities of war, leadership, and the future of Israel.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of October 7th, Israel finds itself grappling with the aftermath of unprecedented challenges. In a reflective and poignant interview on Unholy, Ilana Dayan, a veteran Israeli journalist and host of Uvda, offers her insights into the state of the nation, the current leadership, and the unfolding hostage crisis.

Can we trust that Israel’s leaders are making the right strategic decisions as tensions with Hezbollah escalate?

“We cannot be confident because of their record over the last year. Politics has spilled over into the hostages deal and the war in Gaza and the ceasefire. I’m afraid that there’s no one room in which the deep strategic questions, the crucial dilemmas, the giant issues confronting the state of Israel are being analyzed fairly and squarely. On the other hand, the good news is that nobody really wants war. Nobody wants a full-scale war. The difference is that if Nasrallah doesn’t want a war, he will not wage it. If Israel doesn’t want a war, it still might have to wage it.”

What is your perspective on Netanyahu’s role in the events surrounding October 7th?

“You haven’t heard Bibi Netanyahu up until this day, a year after it happened, taking full responsibility. But the true indictment is not necessarily for October 7th, but for October 6th, for everything that happened before that, for the judicial overhaul that he unleashed, for the attack on Israeli institutions, the democratic institutions of our democracy, for everything that happened up until October 6th, and for everything that has happened ever since October 8th. For the fact that nobody is responsible in the political leadership, for the fact that nobody is accountable, for the fact that they have normalized Itamar Ben-Gvir, and for the fact that the extremists have taken us hostage—all of us. The extremists are dictating the policy of this government.”

Has the Zionist dream of Jews being the masters of their own destiny been jeopardized by the current conflict?

“This war is unwinnable for now, but that doesn’t mean Zionism has failed. It’s because this war is unwinnable for the time being, because Hamas is still there, because somebody here doesn’t want to talk about the day after, because somebody here doesn’t want to strike a deal. But it has nothing to do with the fact that this is still the national home of the Jewish people, the only one in which we can thrive, the only one in which we can be the masters of our own destiny.”

How does the hostage crisis define the nation’s current reality?

“I think the hostages are the most painful and the most defining question of the whole reality around us. The fact that this war hasn’t been won yet is because of many reasons. But the hostages, it’s another story… We all speak of them almost in past tense. That’s the biggest, the most terrible tragedy that I can think of. Our government has torpedoed a deal both last July, both last April, and both last January. The hostages will define the way this war ends and the way we emerge out of this war.”

Can you offer something hopeful for the future?

“I mentioned these projects that we are working on. And when I listen to the voices of people who went out of themselves to rescue others… when I hear of eight-year-old kibbutzniks who volunteered to work in places in the north to collect eggs and apples and pears, I am reminded… We still have people to raise our cups to. And I wish that when we speak again, we’ll have plenty more reasons, perhaps 101 more reasons, to raise our cups to them.”