As former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk experienced one of the most devastating moments of the country’s history - the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, during the time of Israel’s deep divisions over the Oslo Peace Accords. 

And yet, Indyk tells Haaretz Weekly host Allison Kaplan Sommer, the current split over the judicial overhaul, following the passage of its first piece of legislation on Monday, is a “more fundamental” crisis. One that he says has left him “heartsick.”

“Israel was born as a Jewish and democratic state. And throughout its history, for 75 years, there has always been that tension between its Jewish nature and its democratic nature and they remained in balance for those 75 years. Now they are out of balance.”

Indyk said he is “deeply worried” both for the future of the US-Israel relationship and for Israel’s security after it has become clear that that the government’s unilateral actions have “undermined Israel's deterrent capability” given the decision of crucial fighter pilots to suspend their military service in protest of the overhaul. 

“I think it's a very dark day in Israel's history,” Indyk said. “And I know that the Iranians in particular and their proxies around Israel's borders, and Israel's other enemies, were just sitting back and watching this in amazement, as Israel tears itself apart.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he says, has been “taken hostage” by the far-right parties in his coalition. On the podcast, Indyk also discusses his statements in a recent New York Times column in which he endorses an end to the $3.8 billion in U.S. military aid that Israel receives annually.

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