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Dr. Gil Murciano, CEO of the Mitvim Institute, in the opening address at Mitvim’s 8th Annual Conference on Regional Foreign Policy, held at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, November 2025, in partnership with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
“This year’s conference is taking place at an extraordinary moment — a twilight zone between two years of war and an uncertain future. It is a conference held between great danger and a fantastic opportunity.
Today we look north: at Hezbollah’s attempts to regroup, at the possibility of renewed confrontation with Iran, at the ongoing war in Gaza — and we see the risks of escalation. And an escalation now would come under the worst possible circumstances, as Israel finds itself in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.
At the same time, we also see a rare opportunity. An international system showing renewed commitment, and political alternatives beginning to take shape here at home — for reconstruction, rebuilding, and even a new diplomatic path.
Our ability to choose between escalation and an opportunity for reconstruction depends on us. It is not fate. It depends on our capacity to generate diplomatic initiatives; it depends on the very theme of this conference — on choosing a political path; it depends on our willingness to take responsibility for our own future.
Like many of you, I am grateful to President Trump for saving the Israeli people from the Israeli Government and bringing about the ceasefire — but managing Israel’s affairs from the US command center in Kiryat Gat is not a long-term model.
The national state of mind: from trauma to post-trauma
Where are we, as a society, mentally?
In conversations we held with the Israeli Trauma Coalition, a clear pattern emerged: the return of the living hostages — and we are still waiting for the bodies of four others — marks a transition from ongoing trauma to post-trauma.
It may sound similar, but the difference is profound: post-trauma allows us to look at reality with open eyes, to challenge assumptions, to ask questions, and to develop a new perspective. Psychologists call this “post-traumatic growth.”
When we open our eyes and take a good look at reality, several hard truths become clear.
The unbearable price for the state of Israel of the extreme right’s illusions.
The illusions of the “Northern Riviera,” the fantasies of annexation and “voluntary transfer,” are pushing Israel into diplomatic isolation — where even our closest partners view us as an unrestrained actor.
Meanwhile, a messianic worldview is eroding Israel’s moral foundation and endangering its democracy in unprecedented ways.
The violent campaign of recent weeks — in the West Bank and even within the Green Line — illustrates this all too well: attacks on Palestinians, peace activists, and IDF soldiers; the assault on MK Odeh in Pardes Hanna; and this is only a sample.
The warnings voiced by the late Yitzhak Rabin that Violence is an erosion of the foundation of democracy have never been more accurate.
Ignoring the need to present a political alternative to Hamas led to exactly what we warned against. Netanyahu promised “no Hamastan and no Fatahstan” — and yet in the streets of Gaza, Hamastan has returned.
One year ago, right here at Mitvim, we discussed serious proposals that had been presented to Israel by the UAE and the Saudis: normalization, alongside Israeli involvement in shaping the day after in Gaza.
And today? Those proposals are no longer on the table.
What is on the table now?
Israel has lost the capability to affect the political reality in Gaza. What we refused to do under favorable terms is now imposed on us, with Turkey and Qatar instead of the moderate Arab countries, as the new “contractors” of the rebuilding of Gaza.
As long as Israel refuses to engage with the two-state solution and to invest in building alternatives in Gaza and the West Bank, it will remain at a prolonged strategic disadvantage — moving from one disaster to the next.
Security as the ability to create stability.
Our priority is security. But what is security?
It is not another outpost on the Hermon ridge.
It is not another “target bank.”
Real security – “deep security” as we call it at Mitvim – is the ability to transform temporary military gains — achieved at a terrible cost — into long-term political achievements.
And this is where reconstruction and rebuilding come in.
Many ask: What does infrastructure have to do with security?
The answer: everything.
In the current state of the demolished Middle East, those who rebuild will reshape the future.
Whoever reconstructs Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza will redefine the regional political order.
The question of who will rebuild southern Lebanon — Hezbollah with Iranian money, or other actors — matters more for Israel’s security than another temporary outpost beyond the border.
In Gaza, we are preoccupied with the fate of 200 Hamas terrorists trapped in a tunnel. Whether 200,000 young people grow up within a real reconstruction process, or become the next recruitment pool for Hamas, will determine our security far more than any tactical strike on a tunnel cell.
And us? We are not there.
We are not dealing with depth.
Not in the long term.
Not with strategy.
And this is where Mitvim’s work comes in.
This year, Mitvim — like much of civil society — assumed roles that normally belong to the State of Israel:
We conducted strategic dialogues with Egypt and Jordan.
We maintained channels during the deepest diplomatic crisis.
We engaged with new actors in the region — including those with whom Israel has no diplomatic ties.
We represented, outwardly, a different face of Israel: liberal, pluralistic, peace-seeking.
Much of this work took place under the radar.
Commitment to the future — and to the leaders of change here in this room
In this room sit Israel’s leaders of change.
Yair Golan will speak shortly, followed by representatives from three other opposition parties.
I want to make a commitment — on my behalf and on behalf of Mitvim — to do everything possible to take your visions, the alternatives you propose, and turn them into actionable policy plans.
So that when a government of change is formed — sooner than later, we hope — we will all be ready to turn ideas into policy, policy into reality, and reality into a different future for Israel.”
