Where are the Israelis demanding change that leads to peace and prosperity for all Israelis?

The Arab world has discovered the power of peaceful demonstration, while Israel continues to rely on military might, rather than peacemaking, to safeguard its national interests. The Arab world appears determined to proactively lead their countries to a more positive future, but Israel appears floundering, leaderless, with no vision — and most troubling of all, apathetic.

Protesters have flooded major Arab cities across the region — but Rabin Square in Tel Aviv remains shamefully quiet.

It is not suggested here that the Arab world is on the brink of socio-economic and political modernization that will leave Israel languishing behind. But where are the Israelis demanding change that leads to peace and prosperity for all Israelis?

Where are the leaders in power? They are preoccupied with staying in power, stonewalling indictment and struggling to find a voice. Defense Minister Ehud Barak's shameful systematic dismantling of the Labor Party he once led is indicative of the state of Israeli leadership and politics today.

He set aside the values and positions for which he was elected to serve, in order to maintain a position of power and bolster an ego that appears to inflate with each passing day. Perhaps he has learned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose second term has been an exercise in futility.

Netanyahu has no policy beyond staying in power. Any policy he might pursue is beholden to the veto of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, an individual reviled by much of the world for his racist views, and who this month will face a potential indictment on charges of corruption, bribery, breach of trust and others.

Netanyahu and Lieberman cannot even agree on who should be the ambassador in the United Kingdom, let alone what shape a coherent foreign policy should take.

Without change, the worrisome trends in Israeli society will become entrenched, and the region will be headed to another round of bloodshed that could be sparked at any moment.

The opposition in Israel is, sadly, leaderless and disparaged. Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni cannot instill party discipline nor generate sufficient confidence in her leadership from the public. Kadima members in the Knesset regularly oppose one another.

Two weeks ago, Moshe Schori, the director-general of the Kadima Party, was arrested on corruption charges. Indeed, Kadima looks little different from its corrupted counterparts in the Netanyahu government — and Israel is left with little prospect of rising visionary leaders.

Where are the soldiers? Those who have spoken out against Israel's occupation are now defending themselves against accusations of treason. Soldiers involved in such groups as "Breaking the Silence," an organization that compiles testimony of Israeli soldiers serving in the occupation, have been labeled traitors for criticizing and condemning actions by the IDF.

At the same time, Israeli officers and combat units are becoming increasingly ideological and religious, when in fact Israel's national security depends on non-ideological soldiers who are committed only to the national security of the state. In 1990, 2.5% of infantry officers were religious. By 2007, that number had jumped to 31.4%.

Meanwhile, religious preparatory programs are producing far more infantry units than others. A full 80% of religious graduates join combat units, compared to 40% of all soldiers. Israeli soldiers have always fulfilled their duties with dignity and discipline, and they must never be dragged into the characteristically Israeli political morass.

Where are the peace activists? They are few in number and are scrambling to find a voice. With the Labor Party decimated, Meretz marginalized and Kadima in perpetual disarray, there is no home for the so-called peace camp in Israel today.

If the country does not change course, and begin to make what appears now to be a dream into a reality, it could experience a nightmare of drastic proportions.

Where are the spiritual leaders? They are sowing seeds of division rather than co-existence. Rather than being part of the solution, spiritual leaders are all too often becoming part of the problem of Israel's endemic complacency.

Where are the entrepreneurs? They are content and apathetic. Life for successful businessmen is good in Israel — but for everyone else, it is not. Israel's economy grew an impressive 5.4% in 2010 and by 7.8% in the fourth quarter.

However, the latest National Insurance Institute report indicated that 23% of the Israeli population lives below the poverty line, and another 29% risk joining them. The average salary of senior executives at the Tel Aviv stock exchange's 25 largest companies amounts to 94 times the national average.

Furthermore, the middle class is rapidly shrinking. In 1988, the middle class amounted to 33% of Israel. By 2009, it had plummeted to 26.6%. According to the Gini coefficient of inequality, which reached 39.2 in 2010, Israel can now be considered one of the most disparate societies in the world. But still, the disadvantaged remain quiet and alarmingly complacent.

Finally, where are the students and the vibrant academic community? Israeli scholars are hailed for their ingenuity and imagination. Nine Israelis have won Nobel Prizes, including Yitzhak Rabin's peace prize.

However, Israel's renowned scholars are too rarely heard using their intellect and university pulpit in a consistent way to rally support for policies that lead Israel to a better future. Why aren't they raising their voices collectively and in unison, day in and day out, protesting the madness of a government that has lost its moral compass?

Today, hope is in short supply in Israel, and few are demonstrating any will to create a better future.

The emptiness of Rabin Square is frightening. Without change, the worrisome trends in Israeli society will become entrenched, and the region will be headed to another round of bloodshed that could be sparked at any moment.

Israel is the nation whose national anthem conveys an eternal "hope" and whose founding father, Theodore Herzl, famously captured the ethos of Zionism by declaring, "If you will it, it is no dream." Today, hope is in short supply in Israel, and few are demonstrating any will to create a better future.