Israeli leaders, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, frequently trot out the specious claim that their country is the Middle East’s only democracy, and for decades, US politicians have reflexively amplified that claim without examination.
Some, like former US president Barack Obama, have gone further, to laud Israel as the region’s only true democracy.
Both assertions are easily disproved. The pedantic argument is that there are other democracies in the region, and two of them — Turkey and Lebanon — have been around longer than Israel has existed as a modern nation. The more pertinent point might be that, notwithstanding Obama’s presidential plaudits, a state that reduces 20 percent of its population to second-class status is not a true democracy.
However, events of the past few months have demonstrated that Israeli society, distinct from the Israeli state, has strong democratic credentials. The massive rallies against Netanyahu’s plan to neuter the country’s judicial system have been popular, peaceful and persistent, and now it looks like they have been productive.
In a prime-time address, Netanyahu said that he would pause his push for parliamentary approval of the legislation, saying: “I am not ready to divide the nation.”
Netanyahu’s coalition, in office since December last year, has been seeking to rein in the Israeli Supreme Court, which has historically blocked right-wing goals, such as settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and exempting the Orthodox from military service. The prime minister wants to make the judiciary more answerable to the executive, and is using his coalition’s slender majority to ram through far-reaching legislation.
A law approved last week stipulates that only the Knesset and Cabinet can declare the prime minister unfit and remove him from office. (Netanyahu is under trial for corruption.)
Protests against these changes have swelled in the past few weeks, drawing hundreds of thousands. Inevitably, the rallies have drawn comparisons with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, with the implication that Israelis are learning from, rather than setting an example for, others in the region.
However, democracy, as the Middle East has shown many times, is about more than elections and protests. It is also about institutions that push back against the autocratic ambitions of leaders.
Here, too, Israel has passed the tests: From civic groups to labor unions, all manner of institutions have come out against Netanyahu’s plans. Israeli embassies and consulates were shut on Monday as diplomats joined other government workers in a general strike.
Perhaps most remarkable of all, large sections of the military establishment have openly opposed the judicial “reforms.”
This brings to mind the role played by the Tunisian military and civic bodies in sustaining the protests that brought down the dictatorship in 2011.
Israel’s business community, less dependent on state patronage than its Arab counterparts, has been bolder in speaking out against any changes that weaken the independence of the country’s judiciary. Their argument that this would be bad for business has been echoed by international credit rating organizations, which warn of a negative effect to the economy.
“Stronger fiscal and debt metrics may not be sufficient to offset weakening institutions if the content of the judicial reforms and the way they are passed point to such weakening,” Moody’s said in a report, adding that capital inflows to the technology sector, a critical part of the economy, could be especially vulnerable.
Other tests are likely to come — of vigilance and stamina. Even if the judicial overhaul is set aside for now, Netanyahu might return to it, whether for reasons of self-preservation, to forestall judicial action on the corruption charges against him or under pressure from the far-right elements of his governing coalition. When that happens, the demonstrators and Israeli institutions would need to show that their ardor for an independent judiciary is undiminished.
However, the ultimate test for any democracy is freedom for all citizens. Conspicuously absent from the demonstrations are Palestinians, who have good reason to feel they have no dog in this particular fight. Few of those Israeli individuals or institutions that are taking a stance against the judicial overhaul have protested against the injustices visited on Palestinians.
Until that changes, Israeli society will have no more claim to represent “true” democracy than the Israeli state.
Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor-in-chief at the Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.