Families of the fallen give new Israeli government 100 days to draft national cohesion law

100 days. That is the deadline set by a group of bereaved Israeli families for the next government to draft a national framework for social cohesion. The initiative, known as Hamechane, seeks to transform the way Israelis interact with one another from a cultural ideal into a structured national responsibility. The group includes relatives of soldiers and civilians killed during the Israel-Gaza War, as well as survivors of captivity and those wounded in combat. They argue that the divisions present before October 7, 2023, helped create the conditions for the catastrophe that followed.

Moshe Shapiro, whose son Aner died on October 7 while defending fellow festival-goers, leads the effort. He compares the desired change to the wildflower campaign launched in the 1960s, which combined legal protection with public education. Shapiro wants respect for different groups to become equally ingrained in the national consciousness. The group's name, meaning "the denominator," reflects its search for common ground among religious Jews, secular citizens, Haredim, Druze, and members of the political Right and Left. They have spent a year building a shared vision that allows for deep disagreement without requiring anyone to hide their views.

Shai Zohar, uncle of New York native and lone soldier Capt. Omer Neutra, describes internal polarization as the nation's greatest existential threat. Neutra's body was recovered from Gaza in November 2025. Zohar stated that unity functions as an operating system for the state. He warned that Israel cannot afford to slip backward after paying such a high price. His perspective was shaped by hearing Hoda Daxa speak about the 2018 Nation-State Law. Daxa's husband, Col. Ehsan Daxa, commanded the 401st Armored Brigade and was killed in northern Gaza in October 2024. Zohar admitted he previously did not fully grasp the impact of the law on the Druze community, a group whose members serve in the military but who critics say are excluded by the law's specific language regarding Jewish self-determination.

The Nation-State Law reserves national self-determination for the Jewish people and defines Hebrew as the state language, while granting Arabic special status. The High Court upheld the law in 2021, ruling it compatible with equality protections. In November 2023, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif called for constitutional recognition of the community's rights. The governing coalition at the time promised separate legislation to address Druze status. Daxa notes that belonging is tested in daily life. She recalled riding a train with her children and speaking Arabic, sensing discomfort from other passengers. She emphasized that unity must include all communities and that many non-Jewish Israelis already feel part of the society and wish to contribute.

The group is not proposing a single political party platform but rather a structural approach to social interaction. Members of Hamechane vote for different parties, but they maintain that conversation works because participants are willing to learn rather than assume one side is correct. Shapiro pointed to the precedent set by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in 1967, who brought opposition parties into the government ahead of the Six Day War. That expansion included Gahal, led by Menachem Begin, and Rafi, which included future defense minister Moshe Dayan. Shapiro's grandfather, Haim-Moshe Shapiro, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, had urged Eshkol to do so. The current group hopes to replicate that spirit of inclusion through schools, workplaces, and communities.

Hamechane has not yet decided on the specific structure of the body it wants elected officials to create. They are leaving that technical task to professionals and politicians. The focus remains on encouraging personal connections and teaching children how to listen and handle disagreement. The group also wants measures to address online activity that inflames hatred. Daxa said that recognizing polarization as a national danger would be a meaningful first step. Shapiro stressed that the group is not asking people to sacrifice their lives or identities. They are asking for a national commitment to listen, make room for others, and remember that disagreement does not cancel mutual obligations.