If ever there has been a national institution that is revered in Israel and has the power to unite the country, at least its Jewish population, it is the Israeli army.

Only in recent years has it been allowed for the full name of the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, to be in the public domain while they are still serving. Before this, they were traditionally referred to only by the first letter of their name.

Old habits die hard, they say, and Israel’s modus operandi of using force, often excessive military force, when there are good enough reasons due to the complexity of a situation to hold their fire, has become irrepressible.

Democracies do not just suddenly disappear they are gradually eroded from within by their enemies, similar to the way in which cliffs are eroded by the ocean: wave after wave, sometimes gentle, sometimes ferocious, until they finally collapse.

There is never a dull moment in Israeli politics, and as much as the announcement by the Israeli government of the dismissal of Ronen Bar, the chief of the Shin Bet (one of Israel’s security services), had been expected for some time, the timing of it was still a surprise.