There is a famous debate in the Talmud about informed versus uninformed despair. When despair is intentional, is it genuine? Opinion is divided on the matter. As Israel's doctors continue to revolt, it is possible that the despair on both sides is intentional. We are in uncharted waters, a deep fog, a tortuous maze. There is no political map for getting out of this mess, no judicial GPS. Everything the doctors say is true, yet it rings hollow. It is true that the state cannot force people to work, and that the outcry is not coming from a mere handful of doctors, or just from medical residents. We have descended into a war, a conflict of all doctors against the entire public, or perhaps against the government, or management, or maybe themselves. We have lost faith to the point that we are not sure if doctors really mean what they say or if they are merely looking for an excuse to exit the public health system. Did the Finance Ministry act properly in squandering the past few weeks, when it was supposed to be conducting negotiations in good faith, as instructed by the High Court of Justice? The anarchy we are witnessing is liable to turn into an incurable epidemic. Where there is no authority, there is no responsibility. When it comes to vital professions, perhaps we need to revive the idea of binding arbitration? Because if doctors do not mind seeing the government beaten, humiliated, and incapable of standing behind its written commitments then how will the government cope with other sectors? On the other hand, the Finance Ministry may be dealing with a world that has passed out of existence. "They do not realize that medicine has ceased to be about a personal connection between the patient and the person he views as his savior," a department head in a large hospital told me a few days ago, "and has instead become a high-tech profession that relies on the computer more than the heart." The credo of "noblesse oblige" may only characterize doctors in the pages of classic literature. But binding arbitration may no longer be an option. Not after the fact. The two sides are too angry, overheated and full of caprice. The stakes have been raised to all or nothing. There will be another High Court petition. Another order from the Labor Court. Another senior physician threatening the entire nation that he plans to become a farmer. Here is a terrifying thought: The government may have no choice but to tell citizens that it can no longer provide them with quality medical care, that it will provide whatever medical care it can muster, and that it is giving up and waiting for the storm to pass. Like a city under siege whose supply of medicine is dwindling. Like a military unit with no fuel tank or ammunition stores. We are in a standoff until someone breaks down and goes home, either the doctors, who are taking advantage of their monopolistic status, or the Finance Ministry's top echelon. That is exactly the point intentional despair, or informed despair, which our sages talked about in an entirely different context. Is it real or is this a game of chicken? To each his own interpretation.
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