Bereaved Families Demand New Government Build Cohesion Framework in 100 Days

Moshe Shapiro and other bereaved relatives have set a 100-day deadline for the next Israeli government to establish a national framework for social cohesion. The group, known as Hamechane, argues that internal division weakened the nation before the October 7, 2023, attacks and must be addressed immediately. They want unity to become a standard state responsibility, similar to how Israel has protected wildflowers since the 1960s.

The initiative includes family members of soldiers killed in war and survivors of captivity. Shapiro’s son Aner was killed on October 7, 2023, while defending a shelter at the Nova music festival. Shai Zohar is the uncle of Capt. Omer Neutra, a New York native whose body was returned from Gaza in November 2025. Hoda Daxa lost her husband, Col. Ehsan Daxa, who commanded the 401st Armored Brigade in northern Gaza in October 2024.

Zohar described internal polarization as the country’s greatest existential threat. He said the divisions that existed before October 7 contributed to the catastrophe. "Unity is an operating system, an approach," Zohar said. He warned that the nation has already paid an immense price and cannot afford to slip backward. He admitted he did not fully understand the impact of the 2018 Nation-State Law on the Druze community until he heard Daxa speak.

The 2018 law defines Hebrew as the state language and gives Arabic special status. It reserves national self-determination to the Jewish people without an explicit equality guarantee. Druze critics argue the law excludes a community whose soldiers serve in the state. The High Court upheld the law in 2021. In November 2023, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif called for constitutional recognition of the community's rights.

Daxa said belonging is tested in daily life. She recalled riding a train with her children while speaking Arabic and sensing discomfort from other passengers. "Hatred doesn't distinguish," she said. She emphasized that unity must extend beyond Jewish solidarity. Group members vote for different parties, but they maintain that conversation works because participants are willing to learn.

Shapiro spent a year building a shared vision among religious and secular Jews, haredim, Druze, and members of the political Right and Left. He cited his grandfather, Haim-Moshe Shapiro, who urged Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to expand the government before the Six Day War in 1967. In that year, the government included Gahal and Rafi, broadening its base to include Menachem Begin and Moshe Dayan.

Hamechane proposes using schools, workplaces, and communities to build personal connections. Shapiro wants children to learn how to listen and handle disagreement. He also wants measures against online activity that inflames hatred. The group has not decided on the specific structure of the body it wants to create, leaving that decision to elected officials. Daxa said recognizing polarization as a national danger would be a first step.

Shapiro said he is not asking people to sacrifice their lives, only to listen and make room for others. He noted that his son Aner criticized rigid categories in a social media post before his death, writing that there is no "them." Shapiro feels disappointment at the return of these divisions. The group urges the new leaders to act within the next 100 days.