Israel’s Liberal Democracy
(Updated January 2013)
In a region of autocracies and theocracies, Israel shines as a beacon of freedom and hope in the Middle East. Its diverse culture, open society and guaranteed civil and political liberties for all citizens, regardless of race, religion, gender or creed, follows closely to Western democratic tradition. It's liberal democracy, in fact, is the main reason that Israel has been able to have remarkable economic development despite being in a neighborhood surrounded by uncompromising enemeies.
- Population Composition
- Guaranteed Civil Rights & Liberties
- Women's Rights
- LGBT Equality
- Politics & Elections
- Comparative Democracy
Population Composition
The people of Israel come from more than 100 countries.
They represent diverse ethnic, religious, and racial groups. Roughly
half the population has origins in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Of Israel's 7.8 million residents, 75.5 percent are Jews,
20.2 percent are Arabs (mostly Muslim but also some Christians),
and 4.3 percent include Druze, Baha’is, Circassians
and others not classified by religion.
Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy equal rights with
Jewish citizens of the state. Israeli
Arabs participate in all aspects of Israeli life, from menial jobs
to Supreme Court justices.
In fact, Abdel Rahman Zuabi,
the first Arab to sit on the Supreme Court, took his seat on March 3,
1999, and in May 2004, Salim
Jubran was selected as the first Arab to hold a permanent appointment
as a Supreme Court Justice.
Hebrew and Arabic are the two official languages of the state.
Guaranteed Civil Rights & Liberties
All the freedoms and liberties that Americans hold dear from their bill of rights and constitution, are equally protected in Israel.
Israelis
enjoy freedom of speech and press, freedom of assembly and the right to petition government, and, most importantly, the freedom of religion.
Freedom of Speech
& Press
Israel’s free
press is one of the most vibrant in the world. Unlike the mostly
government-controlled media outlets in the region, Israeli journalists can report
on all aspects of Israeli life, and do not hesitate to criticize their
government’s failings. Journalists in neighboring Arab countries who expressed similar
views about the Palestinian Authority or other Middle Eastern regimes, for example,
would likely face arrest — or worse.
Many major news outlets from around the world - including the BBC, CNN and Fox News - station their Middle East bureaus and
correspondents in Israel. One reason is because Israel is so
well-known for its genuine freedom of speech and the press. News media
experts know that about Israel and feel more comfortable basing their
enterprises in Israel than in other, less-free parts of the region.
Freedom of Assembly & Petition
Israel also recognizes the freedom of assembly and the right to petition the government without the threat of harassment or imprisonment.
Over the past few decades, millions of
Israelis have turned out for all sorts of political rallies - sometimes voicing support
for their government and, very often, to bitterly protest its policies.
In 2005, Israeli's led tens of large-scale demonstrations through the streets of Jerusalem protesting the government's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip. From 2007 to 2011, thousands of Israeli's joined in protests together with the Shalit family in voicing their concern that the government was not doing enough to bring home their captured son, IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. And, in July 2011, hundreds of thousands of Israeli's from all walks of life, socio-economic
and religious backgrounds demonstrated in the streets of Tel Aviv against the rising
cost of living and the breakdown of public
services such as education and healthcare.
While Arab residents of Muslim Middle East nations made international headlines across the world for finally taking to the street in the face of brutal repression to protest their tyrannical rulers, Israeli's have been freely protesting all sorts of political choices ever since the creation of the state.
Freedom of Religion
Israel’s Declaration
of Independence guarantees freedom
of religion for all, regardless of which religion one may choose.
Each religious community in Israel has the right to found its own religious
schools, councils, and courts, and they are even given jurisdiction to preside over matters
of personal status such as marriage and divorce. The holy places of
each religion are controlled by officials of that faith, not the Israeli
government.
A popular slogan is that Jerusalem should be free and accessible to all faiths. Indeed it should be —
but it has only had such openness since Israel assumed responsibility for the entire
city in 1967. Today, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Bahai's, Druze and all others are free to pray at any of their holy sites.
Women's Rights
Israel is the only country in the Middle East that provides full equality
for women. In the Palestinian Authority
and most Arab states, women are treated as second-class citizens, often
denied the right to vote or work in most fields, and, in the case of Saudi Arabia, they are not even
allowed to drive a car. Worse, abuse of women, such as “honor
killings” and spousal rape, is tolerated and accepted in society.
Women in Israel are protected by law from discrimination and abuse,
and they have been engaged in all walks of life, from homemaker to combat
soldier to prime minister. In September 2006, Dorit Beinisch was sworn in as Israel's first female Supreme Court President. In 2011, a tradition of women graduating from the Israeli Air Force's elite fighter pilot school reached a new high when five recruits successfully finished the intensive training.
Additionally, women comprise nearly 51% of all magistrate and district
court judges, making it very likely that more women will be appointed
to the Supreme Court in the future. Additionally, more than 44% of all
lawyers registered in Israel are women.
For extensive coverage of women in Israel's public life, CLICK
HERE.
Gay & Lesbian Equality
Israel is one of the most progressive countries in
the world in terms of recognizing differences based on sexual orientation. Israeli law forbids
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In 2006, Israel hosted "Love Without Borders: WorldPride," a weeklong
event organized by LGBT activists from around the world. In 2012, Israel's largest city, Tel Avi,v was named the World's Best Gay City by participants in an international competition.
The Israeli city garnered a whopping 43 percent of votes in the online survey,
ranking it far above other, more famous places such as New York City, Sydney and San Francisco.
By contrast, homosexuals are not protected in Arab and Muslim states, and they are
often imprisoned and sometimes executed. In the Palestinian Authority,
sodomy carries a jail term of three to 10 years
Politics & Elections
Israel’s elections are a model of the democratic process.
While the United States has only
two major parties that are often criticized for being too similar, Israeli
voters typically have more than a dozen parties to choose from, representing a wide variety of political views. After the most recent election in 2009, 15 different parties
won representation in the Knesset,
including three Arab parties with eight representatives.
Additionally, Israel's political parties represent a wide range of views - their are Jewish nationalistic parties, secular and religious parties, communist parties, green leaf parties, Arab and Jewish parties and a slew of others.
Israel's Democracy by Comparison
Arabs living under the oppression of the Palestinian
Authority and Hamas in Gaza do not enjoy these
rights nearly to the extent that people living in Israel do, so it is
not surprising that, despite their grievances, Palestinians tell pollsters
the nation they admire most is Israel, and Israeli Arabs say they prefer
to live in Israel rather than in a Palestinian state.
Israel is not a perfect society. While Israelis enjoy
far greater freedom than any of their neighbors, they have not achieved
the equality in all areas to which they aspire, but that is true of
the United States and all the other western democracies as well. If
the United States has not yet achieved this goal in more than 200 years,
no one should be surprised that Israel has fallen short in just 56,
but the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness for all Israeli citizens
continues.
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