Assess The Role Of Democracy In Israel

The Arab-Israeli conflict is a hotly contested issue both in the Middle East and the broader global community.1 The modern conflict is essentially a dispute over the area known up until 1948 as Palestine, which is considered holy to all three major monotheistic religions.2 The primary parties in the conflict are Israeli (formerly Zionist) Jews and Palestinian Arabs (who are predominately Muslim).3 It is one of the unresolved problems bequeathed to the region by the British and French imperialist powers following the division of the Ottoman Empire between them at the end of World War 1.4 There are many features of the Middle East, specifically Palestine, that account for the interest and rivalry it

ii. Political parties: The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, Kulanu, Balad, Kadima, The Labor Party, Meretz, The Joint List, Likud, The Jewish Home, The New Movement, Shas, The Movement, United Torah Judaism or UTJ, Yisrael Beiteinu, United Arab List-Ta’al, Yesh Atid, and The Zionist Union

We’ve so far established that It is no surprise that religion was a huge factor which triggered the creation of Israel but some individuals use the Israel Declaration of Independence to put forward the argument that ‘Israel may be a “Jewish state” in a cultural sense, but at least no more so than America can be called a “Christian state.”’ (Bird, 2014). Theoretically this argue seems valid because the Israeli Declaration of Independence ‘defines the state as granting equality of social and political rights, irrespective of religion, race or sex’ (Nawaz, 2009). Yet what these individuals are failing to acknowledge is no Israeli leadership has or is abiding by these norms and the only people who really are subjected to having these rights are

The state of Israel—rich in tradition and innovation, has in its short existence been one of the most politically interesting phenomenons in the modern world. The state, since the signing of the Declaration of Establishment in 1948 has created a specific form of democracy not seen among many countries throughout the world; democracy which incorporates religious law as well as judicial and social law. Within Israel’s Higher Law, written by Steven V. Mazie, religion and liberal democracy are discussed in regards to the Jewish State. Mazie focuses on the struggle between liberal democracy and religion, and how both affect the two types of people living in Israel—Arabs and Jews. Both groups of Israelis

Israel is a high controversial state that all have differing opinions on. There are many things that make Israel a hot topic. In order to discover why Israel is so controversial, this paper will delve into the creation of Israel, and how it affects the area around it.

Yet like many modern states Israel exhibits many paradoxes. By definition Israel has succeeded in establishing itself as a Jewish state. Judaism has also permeated throughout aspects of culture and politics. However in practice, a large percentage of Israeli citizens are not religiously observant. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2009, 42% of Jewish Israelis identified as secular. That is in comparison to 8% ultra-Orthodox, 12% religious and 13% religiously observant (Shtull-Trauring, 2010). While a significant portion of Israeli citizens view Judaism as being important to their lives, the 42% of Israelis that identified as being secular indicates that although in definition Israel is a Jewish state, in practice religion is not important for many Israelis.

By the late nineteenth century, the Jews, who had been in exile for almost two thousand years, found their ancestral homeland in Palestine, which was largely occupied by Arabs and governed by the Turks; this dilemma sparked many problems within the Middle East. Since the rise of the Zionist movement and the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, political leaders of predominately Muslim nations in the Middle East have made discriminatory prejudice anti-Semitic statements or actions. Allowing for apportioning or deflection of blame, contradicting the stated social and theological morality of the Islamic faith, this technique has been used as a tool for political control by regimes in this region for the past century. The relationship between anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist views in the Middle East are shown through the nature of the governments involved in the anti-Zionist movement, the relationship these nations had with the state of Israel, the effect it had on the Arabic people living within these countries and the assumptions made on Judaism and Zionism.

Israel is unique in the type of government they have compared to the other countries in the Middle Eastern region. Israel is the most democratic government in the Middle East. Since it declared its independence in 14 May 1948, it has had a parliamentary democracy system of government in place. Israel does not have a formal written

After the proclamation of the Jewish state of Israel in the Palestinian territory on May 14, 1948 and the extensive territory gained by the Jews following Israel’s formation, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes, and their home country as the Jews continued to immigrate to their newly founded state. The introduction of the massive Jewish population into the Palestinian territory, in which Jewish peoples practiced their religion but assimilated to many Palestinian customs, created a secondary Palestinian culture, known to the outside world as the Israeli Culture. For the amount of cultural and religious practices these two territories have in common, the fighting that exists there today not only lacks empathy for the enemy side due to factors of education, government, and media outlets, but the conflict seems to be a never-ending cycle of violence breeding generations of hate and intolerance, rather than generations of peace and harmony. The different aspects of culture that these two countries embody have molded not only two distinct peoples, but also two distinct sides that have similarities but fail to see eye to eye.

While the two-state solution is dreaded by Israel’s government and people, becoming a binational state with Palestine is more concerning to Israelis. Having a two-state solution would mean a loss of land and control for Israel, but a one-state solution would require the Israeli government to grant citizenship and voting rights to Palestinians. If this option was implemented, “voting rights would give Palestinians access to the Israeli Knesset, where decisions regarding their lives are really made” (Rumley and Tibon 2015, 82). With differing cultural and religious views, combining Israelis and Palestinians into one state would change the amount of power each would have over their personal lives, as well as their politics. “The country would have to deal with approximately 4.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza asking not for land of their own but for a voice and a role inside Israel itself” (Rumley and Tibon 2015, 82). This concept of no longer being a Jewish state is so unappealing and unacceptable to the Israeli government, that if Palestinians

One of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century was the sudden creation of the Jewish state. It had been the dream of almost every Jew to have their own nation in which they would be free from persecution but its very creation appeared to be beyond human possibility. Almost 6 million Jews been viciously massacred under the “Final Solution” Plan of Nazi Germany and the remaining were dispossessed refugees. The small communities in Palestine faced fierce Arab resentment and British had disallowed any further immigration. Even when the state was finally declared in May 1948,

In the years just after World War II, Zionism (the desire to rebuild a Jewish national presence in the Promised Land) became a popular Jewish cause all around the world. Many Jews who were not practicing Judaism at all with religion became involved with the establishment of the State of Israel. Even today, many years after the successful founding of the State of Israel, there are Jews whose only real tie to Judaism is their belief in Zionism and their support for the State of Israel. They are joined by many Jews who are members of synagogues and support a modern Jewish religious movement, but who also find their prime identity as Jews in the Zionist cause.

Religion is a vital part of daily life in every Middle Eastern country, informing the ways in which most ordinary citizens understand politics as well as their own place in the world. Today, the political left in Israel views the Israel state more as a protector of the Jewish community than as a strictly religious state. On the right, Zionism is broadly viewed as an effort to realize God’s intention that the Jewish people establish a Kingdom of God in that specific land. Today, Judaism

We need to pay close attention to the effects of secularism: confining the role of religion to the private domain of the individual and creating a dichotomy between "religious" and "worldly," between "private" and "public." It denies religion and its mediating institutions any public function and influence in shaping matters of public policy.

Over the last century, the Middle East has been the location of ethnic rivalry, political and economic instability, religious conflict, territorial dispute and war. Much of this tension in the Middle East comes from the various interpretations of Islam and how the religion should be applied to politics and society. Over the last ten years, the United States and their allies have pushed to promote democracy in the Middle East. However, they too have many obstacles they must overcome. They face problems such as the compatibility of Islamic law and democracy, the issue of women’s rights, and there is always the problem of how to go about implementing a democratic reform in these countries. Many initially would assume that it is only the