The law that could prevent the next war
To add your name in support of our proposed law, go to http://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/halufot-law-form
“Seek peace and pursue it“. Psalm 34
“We extend a hand of peace and good neighborliness to all neighboring countries and their peoples.” Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
The hand extended in peace as articulated by Israel’s founders – and along with it, a constant striving for peace – can be understood as the wellspring from which the nation’s strength and resilience are to be drawn. It is also what gives substance to the unwritten contract between the state and its citizens: just as citizens are expected to enlist and support the country in times of war whether on the battlefield or the home front, so decision-makers are expected to leave no stone unturned in order to prevent war.
Yet, based on the evidence provided in numerous Commissions of Inquiry and State Comptroller’s Reports after major conflicts, it appears that during the tenure of various governments over the years, decision-making processes regarding the most important issues – life and death decisions, peace and war – have not been undertaken in the most thorough, professional, or intensive manner required. Decision-making processes themselves, as well as the manner in which resources are allocated, have not enabled us to realize the aspiration for peace as expressed in the country’s founding document.
An out-of-hand rejection of political alternatives was presented unquestioningly to the Cabinet, preventing its members from considering these alternatives and discussing their chances of success or their risks. from the State Comptroller’s Report on 2014 Operation Tzuk Eitan/Operation Protective Edge/‘GazaWar
And so we, tens of thousands of citizens, both women and men, believe the time has come.
The time has come to realize the aspiration for peace that has accompanied Israel since its founding.
The time has come to act, to seek, to initiate, to leave no stone unturned in order to find solutions.
The time has come to create and institutionalize a decision-making process in which a well-established, systematic, responsible, and thorough examination of political alternatives can take place both on a routine basis and in times of emergency; and to which resources of time, attention and manpower have been allocated for the purpose of seeking political solutions.
Political Alternatives First
• demands that time be allocated for discussion of political alternatives first
• requires allocation of resources for examining and developing political alternatives
• includes monitoring and reporting to the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee and the public
The bill gives expression to the responsibility and commitment we feel as women,
mothers, and active citizens working to promote a positive change in the painful reality
of a long and difficult conflict, just as it fulfills the command: seek peace and pursue it.
To add your name in support of our proposed law, go to http://www.womenwagepeace.org.il/halufot-law-form
Look at how much support the law received in the 20th Knesset. The law must be passed in the 21st Knesset. Watch the clip (in seven languages) and share!
The proposed bill is 
based on a thorough, 3-part research
process conducted over many months which included:
• examination of Reports by the State
Comptroller and Commissions of Inquiry authorized by Israeli governments on the Left and Right beginning with the 1973 Yom Kippur War and including Operation Tzuk Eitan (2014 Operation Protective Edge /’Gaza War’)
• study of professional literature on
relevant decision-making processes
• consultations with dozens of experts,
both men and women, in the political
arena and in the highest echelons of
security, academia and the legal
sphere, all of whom have expressed
broad support for the bill
׳׳ You are not obligated to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from it. ׳׳ Pirkei Avot
