Is the Israeli Democracy strong enough to survive the democratic turbulence?

Benjamin Amram and Keren L.G. Snider

The article was quoted in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) on April 9, 2023 | link to the full article"

https://www.jta.org/2023/04/09/opinion/whats-really-behind-the-protests-that-are-engulfing-israel

Just a little over two years ago, we witnessed first handed, how distrust, fear and anger can undermine even the biggest democracy in the world. After inciting protesters in disbelief of election results to use violence, two thousand Trump supporters breached and vandalized the United States Congress. In Israel, the current major political crisis reached its boiling point last week when political issues breached the door of its security apparatus as reserve pilots of the Israeli Air Force threatened not to show up for reserve training.

After five stalling elections in the last four years, Israel formed a hard right coalition. The current government is rushing to ratify judicial reformations in an attempt to weaken the judicial branch and centralize power. The only democracy in the Middle East, reiterating Scott Galloway’s words, is “rotting from the inside out.” From hundreds of thousands of people who are taking to the streets in protests, citizens clashing with police, hostile debates in Knesset committees, to citizens and leaders on either side disrespecting, ridiculing, and invalidating one another. One cannot ignore the irrespective discourse some leaders use when addressing the public.  One inconceivable example is Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who is constantly calling protesters “anarchists”. Last week he was unhappy with the “soft response” used by police authorities to contain protesters. He then preceded to remove the Tel Aviv District Police Commander. This unprecedented action was frozen by the Israeli Attorney General. Moreso, concerns about the consequences of the legal reform and controversial security statements penetrated for the first time – to the heart of the Israeli spirit - the IDF.  Reserve personnel, mainly pilots of the Israeli Air Force threatened not to show up for reserve training.

Two years following the dangerous precedents in the US, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition are proposing a judicial reform that undermines the integrity of Israel’s democracy by consolidating power within his coalition. If these judicial reforms are enacted, only 61 votes (out of 120) are needed to override judicial rulings, which gives Netanyahu’s coalition the right and ease to overrule any objections by the judicial court. How can citizens trust a government who ultimately has no limitations set upon them? At a time when political trust and political representation are at the lowest points, this legislation can create instability and questions the intentions of the current ruling party. When one coalition holds all the power, laws and policies can be swiftly overturned causing instability and volatility.

To understand the severity of this situation, consider the level of confidence United States citizens have in the government is at near all-time lows according to Pew Research. Also, the number of struggling democracies is getting higher - according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 27 democratic states since 2005 experienced democratic backsliding. The situation in Israel is not different. According to the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility, at Reichman University, in February 2023, less than a quarter of the Israeli public reported trusting the government. Furthermore, only 17% of the Israeli public reported trust in the Knesset, an institution that received the lowest levels of trust among the governing authorities.

Israel is a case where the past, present, and future fuse to create a society built on tradition and modernity such as technology, democratic structures, and a future-oriented people. We argue that the significance of the judicial overhaul is not just about the centralization of power by the right-wing government, but how this moment represents the clash of two narratives taking place in Israel and worldwide. These polarizing narratives will only deepen if each group continues to reject the aspects of truth and perhaps common ground with the opposing side. Going back again to Scott Galloway who says society is suffering from “the lack of camaraderie, the lack of patriotism, the lack of connective tissue”.

Something needs to change in Israel considering that there is no other Jewish state in the world. The constant external threats to the safety of the country do not wait until the internal quarrel are settled. Israel is in the midst of another terror wave, as seen by the attack in Tel Aviv last Thursday while thousands of protestors were close by. These terror attacks continue to threaten Jewish safety from within while the Iranian nuclear amassment and antisemitism breaking new records in 2021 threaten Jewish safety from without. Altogether, the internal and external pressure may fracture the foundation of Israel’s society.

It is crucial that the Israeli society collectively changes course. The core challenge in attempting to heal the polarization between the right and left is that each speaks a different language. Right-wing supporters hold perspectives rooted in tradition, uniformity, and a Jewish-centric perspective. The left and center are rooted in globalization, humanitarianism, individualization, and science. The religious communities place value emphasis on traditions of the past while the secular citizens place added value on the present. This binary and antagonistic perspective overlooks a fundamental truth: the past serves as a foundation for the present which gives rise to the future.

Yascha Mounk, renowned author and political scientist, believes “The basic predicament of living in a big, raucous, diverse democracy is that we have to find ways of living with and hopefully respecting people who have very different ideas about the world than we do”. The moment when each and every individual takes responsibility for his contribution to the collective world we are creating, will democracy be able to uphold a vision for our shared humanity. Neither the dogma of technology, science, nor religion can heal our wounded societies alone, only we can by repairing the fabric of society.

Benjamin Amram is a psychology student at Reichman University. He is also a research fellow for the Zvi Meitar Emerging Technologies Institute and a research intern at the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University.

Dr. Keren L.G. Snider is a research associate in the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University. Her research specializes in intergroup relations, political psychology, and political violence.