The Decline of Democracy in Israel

After reading about the Supreme Court and their decisions, I thought that Israel was moving in the direction of more democracy in the Jewish State. This thought, while still in my head, was challenged when we went to the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) a few weeks ago.  While there we learned about the Boycott Law passed by the Knesset and other non-democratic bills. The Boycott Law was passed in 2011 and it made boycotts against a person or entity, including those in the territories, a civil wrong.  Moreover, the Minister of Finance could change the status of an organization if they took part in a boycott. The IDI claimed that this bill is highly undemocratic and I agree.  It limits the freedom of speech, association, and assembly. This bill reminds me of the Alien and Sedition Acts that made any criticism of the government illegal in the US. But the Boycott Law is much worse because not only does it limit criticism of the government but also any criticism that causes economic harm to anyone and any organization. Furthermore, other more radical bills were insane and luckily they did not pass. These included bills that would require film makers to make an oath/pledge to the State of Israel.

In the Kremnitzer and Krebs article (in the course pack), which argued that Israel is moving towards an “intolerant democracy,” they mentioned the Nakba law passed in 2011. Unlike the Boycott Law, where everyone is to be shielded from discrimination, this law is extremely discriminatory towards Palestinians. The law allows government funding to be reduced to groups that recognize the Nakba, also known as Independence Day in Israel. The authors rightly contend that “this law blatantly undermines democratic culture by delegitmating the expression of opinions and emotions” (page 6). Yakobson, who wrote a competing viewed article that promoted the idea that democracy was still alive in Israel, contends that the Nakabah law will be overturned in the Supreme Court. First, the Supreme Court has yet to do such a thing. The second issue is that the law is inherently undemocratic. It is great that Israel has a body that recognizes its democratic values, but it sheds light on the fact that the Knesset is becoming less and less democratic in order to strive for a more Jewish than democratic state.

Throughout the class we have seen that the Supreme Court holds liberal democracy to the highest regard. Luckily, even if the Knesset passes undemocratic laws, then the Court will be able to reverse the law. But from the time that a democratic law is passed until it is reversed, the Israeli public is subjected to a non-democratic regime and eventually the society will stop appealing the democratic laws and then tyranny of the majority will ensue. We can only hope that the Knesset learns from the Justices in the Supreme Court and make the parliamentary body once again democratic.