Israeli democracy fighting for its life

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The author is a historian, philosopher and author

To understand events in Israel, one has only to ask one question: What limits the power of the government? Strong democracies rely on a whole system of checks and balances. But Israel lacks a constitution, an upper house in parliament, a federal structure or any other control over government power except for one – the Supreme Court. This Monday, the Netanyahu government plans to pass the first in a series of laws that would neutralize the Supreme Court. If it succeeds, it will get unlimited power.

Members of the Netanyahu coalition have already revealed their intention to pass legislation and pursue policies that would discriminate against Arab people, women, LGBTQ people and secular people. Once the Supreme Court is out of the way, there will be nothing left to stop them. In such a situation, the government could also rig future elections, for example by banning Arab parties from participating – a move previously proposed by coalition members. Israel will still hold elections but it will become an authoritarian ritual rather than a free democratic contest.

The members of the government openly declare their intentions. They point out that since they won Israel’s last election, it means they can now do whatever they want. Like other authoritarian forces, the Israeli government does not understand what democracy means. He believes that it is a dictatorship of the majority, and that those who win democratic elections are granted unlimited power. Many Netanyahu supporters I’ve talked to in recent months, and they genuinely believe that any restrictions on an elected government are undemocratic. “What do you mean we can’t take away people’s basic freedoms?” They say. “But we won the election! It means we can do whatever we want!” Democracy actually means freedom and equality for all. Democracy is a system that guarantees certain freedoms to all people, which even the majority cannot take away.

The establishment of a dictatorship in Israel would not only have dire consequences for Israeli citizens. The ruling coalition is led by Messianic religious fundamentalists who believe in the ideology of Jewish supremacy. It calls for the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories to Israel without granting Palestinians citizenship, and dreams of eventually destroying the Al-Aqsa mosque complex – one of Islam’s holiest sites – and building a new Jewish temple in its place.

Jewish supremacy is not a fringe notion. It is represented in the coalition by the Jewish Power Party and the Religious Zionism Party. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (from the latter) has recently called for an entire Palestinian town to be wiped out in retaliation for the murder of two Jewish residents.

People like Smotrich now command one of the world’s most formidable military machines, armed with nuclear and advanced cyber weapons. For decades the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has waged a campaign to prevent Iran from going nuclear, and has warned the world about the dangers posed by a hardline regime with nuclear capabilities. Now Netanyahu is setting up exactly the same system in Israel. This could lead to fires throughout the Middle East, with consequences that would spread far beyond the region. It would be incredibly foolish of Israel to do something like this, but as we learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we should never underestimate human folly. It is one of the most powerful forces in history.

The good news is that in recent months a powerful resistance movement has emerged to save Israeli democracy. Rejecting the ideology of Jewish supremacy, and connecting to ancient traditions of Jewish tolerance, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are demonstrating, protesting and protesting in every non-violent way we know how. Since Friday, more than 10,000 army reservists – including hundreds of Air Force pilots, cyber warfare specialists and commanders of specialized units – have publicly declared that they will not serve the dictatorship, and will therefore suspend their service if the change in judiciary continues. As of this Tuesday, the famed Israeli Air Force – which is largely dependent on reservists – may be partially shut down.

To appreciate the importance of this step, it must be remembered that military service is a sacred duty for many Israelis. In a country that has risen from the ashes of genocide, and has faced existential threats for decades, the military has always stayed away from political controversies. This is no longer the case. Former heads of the Israeli army, air force and security services have publicly called on soldiers to cease service. Veterans of Israel’s many wars are saying this is the most important conflict of their lives. The Netanyahu government tries to portray it as a military coup, but it is quite the opposite. Israeli soldiers are not taking up arms to oppose the government – they are abandoning them. They point out that their contract is with Israeli democracy, and once democracy ends – so does their contract.

Realizing that the social contract has been broken, universities, labor unions, high-tech companies and other private businesses have also threatened more strikes if the government continues its undemocratic power-grabbing. Israelis understand the potential damage to our country. As the so-called start-up nation shuts down, investors around the world are pulling out. The internal damage is even greater. Fear and hatred now dominate relations between different sections of society, as the social contract frays. Government members call protesters and army reservists “traitors”, and demand that force be used to crush the opposition. Israelis worry that we may be days away from a civil war.

But thousands of us protesting in the streets feel we have no choice. We have a duty to ourselves, to Jewish tradition, and to humanity, to prevent the rise of a Jewish hegemonic dictatorship. We are standing in the streets, because we cannot do anything else if we want to save Israeli democracy.