Israel Faces a Defining Question: How Much Democracy Should Arabs Get?

Multiculturalism in an era of identity politics brings some challenges.

Sorry, but this is ridiculous: the US has one core requirement, that 'all humans are equal'. I re-phrased because the Founding Dads said 'Men', not 'humans' (since re-cast in the Constitution). But Israel (and other countries out there today, e.g. Saudi Arabia and Iran) have a culture/race/religion supremacy angle that is different: all 'humans' are NOT created equal, and the law need to wrap around that. FYI: if you believe all humans are not created equal before the law, you are my enemy, I don't care where you live

After reading this story, I didn't know whether to scream or cry. Both Israeli Jews and Palestinian and Israeli Arabs should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. That they are still willing to continue embracing the same bigoted beliefs and bloody behavior toward each other--while the rest of the world looks on defeatedly and disgustedly at the discrimination, land-grabbing, cruelties, injustices, terrorism, and war crimes--is simply a sign of the politically intractable nature of the their dispute. Or so we are told by our leaders. Yet, the Israeli-Arab dispute shows more, far more, though most of our species would be loathe even to say its name, religion, much less to cast blame on it. If we could all take off our blinders and see what history plainly reveals, we might then be able to accept stories like this as irrefutable proof, if any more was needed, that the so-called "holy land" is anything but holy. Instead the "holy land" has served as the main killing fields for all three Abrahamic religions, whose members currently constitute the bulk of our species. The irony that Israeli Jews are not cast in the role as the persecutors and bullies of the weak on both sides of the border seems lost on most Israelis and their supporters. And the Arabs inside and neighboring Israel seem content to play the foolish, hapless provocateur. And the God of both must feel exactly as I do, though He should know better than anyone whether to cry or scream at the mess He's created!

The government of Northern Ireland includes representatives from both sides of the conflict during the Troubles, even former members of the IRA and the loyalist paramilitary groups. It can be done but only if both sides have the will.

If the new government ,with the support of Arabs, reconcile to two state solution peace will come to the region. Israel won't have to resort to bombing Gaza and Israeli Arabs won't show sympathy for Gazans. This approach would also assimilate Arabs into Israeli society. Excluding them would alienate them and make them" enemy within" a reality. Time to make Israel a true democracy and also change the elections system.

The day of decision has arrived for Israeli's. Is Israel a democratic state or other? If "other" than what? Its claim of equal treatment for all citizens will have proven to be a sham if it chooses not to be a democracy.

Netanyahu , much like George Wallace in a different time but similar situation, will NEVER let anyone surpass him in his hatred of the "other". If Israelis think that it's fine to exclude people from government based on race, religion, and ethnicity, then Israel is not a democracy. It's just become more obvious. No Jewish person who accepts this in Israel would tolerate this in the US.

Netanyahu & Co. has led Israelis down a dark and dead end path. The evidence of darkness is that so many in the crowd now want to change the definition of "democracy". Is there any hope of a 180 degree turn around and a return to the light?

Netanyahu is a far bigger problem to Israel than Israeli Arabs. Actually he just have to go away and instantly a national union government would be possible.

The article should point out that 3 members of the Israeli non-Arab parties are in fact Arab (Druze), and one member of the Joint List is Jewish. Also, many Arabs vote for non-Arab parties. Further, some of the members of the Joint List oppose any coalition with Jewish parties. So to present the situation as primarily due to Jewish intolerance is incorrect.

Imagine the horror of American Jews if one or both of our political parties decided not to work with the Jews in Congress, because (so they claimed) the true loyalty of American Jews was to Israel, not the U.S. Meanwhile, the same state which demands that Palestinians recognize its right to exist specifically as a Jewish state (and its right to continue the occupation) won't even recognize its own lawful citizens.

"A state established to protect the Jewish people, and still in conflict with the Palestinians, cannot entrust weighty policy decisions to people whose sympathies may be with the other side." Pretty tough to argue against - if you're a Jewish person living in Israel - and not in the US.

If the Joint List represented the interests of Israeli Arabs, it would be a welcome part of any coalition. Unfortunately, its priority is support for Israel's enemies. One demand they're making is that Israel not defend itself against terror attacks from Gaza. Another is that Jews not be allowed to even visit the Temple Mount! The Joint List has made itself unacceptable.

Parliamentary systems sidelining rising parties seems to be pretty much the norm, though? Look at how the increasingly mainstream AfD are treated in Germany. But, I'm sure you want to say, "that's different" because one group is as pure as driven snow and the other group is as black as tarred coal. They're both effectively insurgent groups with views against the prevailing mainstream. The problem is, then, that embracing too much of the "outsider" bloc alienates people on the "insider" blocs. Is it worth the trade? Israel's situation and the questions is raises is thus not so different from the situation in many European countries... and here in the US as well, really, with our Big Tent systems. Things are politically messy all around. Well, except in Japan I guess, and a tiny number of other (cheating) homogeneous countries.

Unfortunately, this article doesn't mention the many Jewish Israelis who voted for the Joint List, including our son in Jerusalem, a veteran of the IDF. The current movement of Israeli politics is toward inclusion of it's Arab citizens, the most hopeful development I have yet seen. Including them will fulfill the claim that Israel is the only true democracy in the middle east, at this point, only an empty claim. The end of the Netanyahu era is upon us and, perhaps, his spiritual partner, Trump. Perhaps we will also see the Palestinians ridding themselves of Abbas and his minions as well.

And what if, as seems likely, the answer is "not much?" Does America then face its own (if not quite defining) question, "How much support should Israel get?"

This is an interesting question, just how much worth, true value, has each individual ? If each man and woman is judged independently and without bias they would all be equal. However, if each is viewed as a vote for a definitive event then their intrinsic value and worth is mitigated by the possible ramifications of the situation. Thus Israel finds itself in a paradoxical position. If one views life as history then history is confined to that persons life. If you view life as a continuation, a river flowing, through which we all immerse ourselves during our physical life, yet our children and our children's children are still immersed in this flow of time. If this is your view you know Israel is wrong to segregate and steal the land of the Palestinians. Yet if your view is shorthand, your life that's history then you want to stop them, whoever them is in their tracks. No vote for the Palestinians as their birthrate is sooo much higher than the controlling Israeli's. These are the two questions. Short term the guys with the guns win. Long term, the families with the most babies win. Where would Israel want to be in 50 years, 100 years ? The wrong choice could have significant implications.

I hope that Gantz forms a coalition with the Arab lawmakers. This would take the wind out of the BDS movement and possibly be the best chance for negotiating a 2-state solution.

Apparently, some politicians (and others) believe that while all citizens are equal (on paper), some are more equal than others (when it comes to forming a government). Instead of writing off a whole segment of the population, all parties should try to appeal to its members. The Druze vote is an example to be followed.

I bet the Arabs in the 22 Arab countries and those in the Palestinian ruled areas of the west bank and Gaza wish that they had free and fair elections like the Arabs who live in Israel. The Israelis will work this out and hopefully come together to retire Mr. Netanyahu. The anti-Israel obsessives, well represented here, will see this as some sort of flaw in Israeli life, but they see everything as a reason to criticize Israel. The Israeli Arabs have finally come to the table and demanded their rights through the ballot box. Good for them.

Israel must choose: Does it want to be a democracy or a theocracy?

Just the fact that you are asking that question indicates to me that the Israeli experiment is failing. It is either a democracy or it isn’t. If you base democracy upon membership in a specific religion, you are not a democracy. It’s time to end the charade or to be true to the concept of a democratic society which includes all citizens.

Ah yes, the "one true democracy in the Middle East," "America's greatest ally," this is really a fine example of Western democratic values in practice. I am thankful that the tide has begun to turn and it's becoming possible to have serious conversations about the pervasive racism in Israel, but the unquestioning and unrepentant support among American lawmakers for Israel is still deeply disheartening. If America truly cared about democracy in the Middle East we may have done well not to send one Mohammad Mossadegh packing...or propped up the Sadat puppet regime...but then again, racial discrimination is as American as apple pie and fireworks.

The picture shows the Israeli prime minister in a security cordon of no less than 6 tough looking guards. This is not the image you would expect in a liberal democracy. The founding fathers would not be happy to see this kind of result.

Ariel Sharon came to realize a separate Palestinian state was a good idea. He saw, what should have been obvious to all, that a "two-state solution" clearly was the only way to maintain Israel as a "Jewish" state. And, of course, Netanyahu's policies have made that scenario impossible. Isn't it ironic that Netanyahu himself will be most responsible for bringing Arabs into the Israeli mainstream. Will be interesting to see how Israel can avoid becoming another South Africa.

Itamar Radai, an expert on Arab-Jewish relations at Tel Aviv University, says Israel is not “one nation under God,” like the United States, but rather two nations still locked in conflict over a single territory. Logic would suggest that these two nations should agree on a two-state solution, with territorial compromises. But Jewish and Arab politicians, and their political bodies, have never been able to accomplish this, and actually have moved further away from it. In 2012, six former heads of the Israeli Shin Bet, were interviewed in an award-winning documentary film, "The Gatekeepers." Based on their extensive experience overseeing Israel's war on terror, both Palestinian and Jewish, they explained how they came to advocate a conciliatory approach toward their enemies based on a two-state solution. It's time for new leaders, on both sides.

Isn't it ironic that the country which claims to be "the only democracy in the Middle East" is still debating how much democracy to give its Arab citizens?

The notion of a superior race or ethnicity seems so out-dated. It seems to belong in the previous centuries, not this one. The concept of "never again" should apply to all peoples.