The Threat to The Israeli Democracy Is Real – But The Israeli Democracy Isn’t

In democracies, when courts are losing their independence, it IS alarming.

And I would say, it IS alarming in Israel, too.

But what else is alarming? What is a must to talk about when we talk about the “threat to the Israeli democracy”?

Israelis have been protesting on the streets for months, for reasons that should be understood in any democracy: its far-right government has a plan to implement measures to limit the power of the country’s courts.

If it wasn’t happening in Israel, this is where the scandalousness (is that a word? Well, it would surely apply to situations like this) would end.

But precisely because it’s happening in Israel, there is so much to talk about.

In my episode, I present three points.

One, I talk about how democracy is (or isn’t) defined in political science.

In short, it’s not as straightforward as you think and I have a whole article on it here that I will shamelessly recommend. You can find more information on the example of Poland and its deteriorating judicial independence that I give in this part of my episode here.

Two, I ask if – no matter how simple the definition of democracy we chose to use is – we can actually call Israel a democracy.

“Democracy for some” – are we in on this concept?

When five million Palestinians living in its territory (the territories Israel illegally occupies and besieges) are neither citizens nor people with any kind of autonomy, do we say it doesn’t matter?

Three, I point to the violent response that protesters in Israel have seen from the Israeli forces.

Israeli citizens have gathered to protest Netanyahu’s dangerous judicial reforms. Israeli police now also have stun grenades to throw at unarmed protesters. They’re throwing peaceful protestors around like rag dolls right now in Tel Aviv. #Israel pic.twitter.com/LelwOvLovZ

— Chelsea Hart (@chelseahartisme) July 24, 2023

I mention The Great March of Return in Gaza and the recent killing of a 15-year-old Palestinian girl, Jana Majdi Zakarneh, by an Israeli sniper.

It’s a dense episode. But that’s because there’s so much to talk about. Thank you in advance for listening to it and for sharing it with the broader community of people who care.

Justina

As promised, here’s an excellent video explaining Israel’s judicial reforms in greater detail:

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PS. I’ve also filmed a quick video for you to share with the ones who might benefit from listening to my podcast:

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