How much elasticity is there in the concept of democracy in Israel
Democracy can only begin when everyone has equal rights. The Israeli willingness to distort this axiom is disturbing.
By Karen Haber (Translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe)
The Citizenship Law, Pegasus, the failure to take responsibility for the death of the elderly Palestinian [in the news], the policy of “Lords of the Land” in the Negev, the Nation-state Law — every so often a new concern arises, and the Jewish public is amazed each time anew.
If the Citizenship Law, which passed its first reading, also passes in the second and third readings, Israel will be the first country to enter the Club of States that automatically denies citizenship to spouses of citizens, disqualifying them on the basis of national or ethnic background. In other words, Israel is taking the liberty of depriving its citizens of the right to have family life in their country. This is undoubtedly a violation of the right granted under the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. The purpose of the law, in the final analysis, is to prevent the settling down in the country mainly by Palestinians. Its justification is not security, but demographic. The whole thing is aimed at preserving inequality, which is the essence of Jewish supremacy. The security justification is an alternative story designed to euphemistically explain it to the community. It is easier for the state to provide a security explanation than to admit its racism.
If the police did indeed use the Pegasus spyware against Israeli citizens, as published in Calcalist, then for about a decade it has been using a practice imported from the world of the war on terror against civilians without authorisation. No specific suspicion was required to go fishing for information. This is not a grey area that lies within the boundaries of democracy, it is an undemocratic act that violates the principle of the rule of law by those who trust it to be enforced. This exposure might have been more shocking to the citizens of the country, had it not been the Israeli government that has promoted the sale of this spyware to regimes known for the violation of human rights.
If the horrific death of Omar Abdulmajeed Asaad would have been a red line for the government, the discussion about his death would not have revolved around the victim’s ability to hold his head when the force from the Netzach Yehuda Battalion left the scene. Every human being would naturally feel the pain for the horrible, unnecessary death lacking the most basic aspect of humanity; an 80-year-old man lying on the floor of a construction site on a cold night, handcuffed with his mouth and eyes and covered. As in many other cases, there is no atonement for this death, but Jewish-Israeli society is weighing and discussing the issue, and there is no atonement for this either. The moral muse is silent, when excuses are being debated while dealing with the sanctity of life. Yes, even if it’s a Palestinian’s life.
If a Knesset member in Israel can address citizens, even if they are Bedouin, while an illegal Jewish outpost of Jews in the Negev is being dismantled, and bluntly say: “Whoever wants to live here — fine, but we are the Lords of the Land” and it passes smoothly — we have a problem. Citizenship in a state, certainly a democratic state, is a right. It is not a “favour” that the state gives to its citizens, and certainly not under conditions. In Israel, minorities are “conditional citizens” and not because Itamar Ben-Gvir said, he only mentioned the situation we are all familiar with.
If there is a nation-state law that anchors the automatic granting of citizenship only to Jews, explicitly encourages the promotion and establishment of only Jewish towns and villages, stipulates only Jewish state-memorial dates, then non-Jews do not enjoy equal civil status. When two citizens do not enjoy equal status, you don’t have to call it Apartheid if it bothers you, you can call it merely Hafrada [separation], and in any case it is not democratic.
So many “ifs” join together to form a clear picture when connecting the dots, but it seems that only a few in Israeli society connect them. The rest prefer to ignore them. Processes look much better in retrospect. It is often difficult to notice them while in motion. The situation in Israel is elusive: it is convenient to separate Israel from the [Occupied] Territories and think that what is happening there remains there; It is convenient to ignore the inherent racism that leads to discrimination between citizens within the sovereign territory of the state. It is convenient to think that the “Jewish” aspect somehow fits in with the “democratic” bit.” But ignoring them does not eliminate all of these, it only postpones coping with it and passing the burden on to the next generation. And the burden only increases it.
In the dichotomous worldview of Jewish society in Israel, it is amazing how much elasticity is revealed in the concept of the degree of democracy. Suddenly there are a lot of shades to democracy. This is largely correct, but not when it comes to civic equality, which was meant to be the common denominator of both left and right. There is no civil equality within Israel, but with every new matter that arises, the Israeli public is amazed to discover more norms that have no place in a democratic state. The immediate danger that Benjamin Netanyahu presented may have been removed for the time being, but it is nothing compared to the danger inherent in maintaining the democratic image as an empty shell devoid of content and viewing it as if really was the real thing.
