Israelis Know That True Democracy Will Spell the End of Zionism
The greatest threat facing Israel is the democratic threat. There is no greater danger to the regime in Israel than its turning into a democracy. There is no society that opposes democracy like Israeli society. There are plenty of regimes opposed to democracy, but not a free society. In Israel the people, the sovereign, is opposed to democracy. This is why the current struggle, which presumes to be about democracy, is a masquerade. It is designed to maintain the pretense of democracy.
To most Israelis, real democracy is tantamount to “the destruction of Israel.” They’re right. True democracy will bring an end to the Jewish supremacism they call Zionism, and an end to the state they call Jewish and democratic. Therefore the threat of democracy is the existential threat, against which all Jewish Israelis unite: Should democracy be instituted for all the state’s residents, it will bring an end to the pretend democracy.
Therefore, the leaders of the protest make sure to steer clear of any true contact with democracy, lest the entire thing collapse like a house of cards. It is not due to racism or hatred of Arabs that they don’t want Palestinian flags or protesters – they are good people, after all – but only due to the understanding that raising the question of apartheid will render their struggle ludicrous.
The mere mention of the idea of one democratic state, in which one person equals one vote and all are equal, evokes an instantaneous and hostile reaction among liberal and conservative Israelis alike: “What does that have to do with anything?” followed by “It’s never worked anywhere,” ending with “destruction of Israel.” No less. There is no other country whose citizens view becoming a democracy as tantamount to destruction. There is no other fight for democracy that utterly ignores the state’s tyranny in its own backyard.
As I write these words, early Wednesday morning, the protesters’ shouts in front of the Eretz Israel Museum thunder in the background, “Democracy, democracy.” As legendary left-wing leader Moshe Sneh once famously put it, in notes for his own speech: “Raise your voice here, as the argument is weak.” Raise your voices, comrades. Even if all your demands – as justified as any – are fully met, Israel will not become a democracy.
When democracy is shouted with pathos by hoarse throats, while a half hour drive away from the demonstration soldiers snatch civilians from their beds night after night with no judicial warrant; a town is under curfew because it fell victim to a pogrom; a thousand people are in prison without trial and rock-throwing teens are shot to death as a matter of course, the hypocrisy is impossible to stomach.
The most terrible articles of Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s plan are glorious monuments to democracy compared to the occupation regime. Even if the Likud Central Committee were to choose all the Supreme Court Justices, one for each Likud voting district, that new court would be a beacon of world justice compared to the military tribunals. And how can you ignore the military tribunals, when fighting for Israel’s justice system? Are they not part of the justice system? Are they outsourcing? A foreign legion? Are they not where many of Israel’s judges take their first steps? Or shall we repeat the lies about an emergency situation and temporary state of things?
Keep protesting vigorously, do all you can to topple this bad government, but don’t utter the name of democracy in vain. You aren’t fighting for democracy. You’re fighting for a better government in your view. That’s important, it’s legitimate and it’s impressive. But had you been democrats, you would fight for a democratic state, which Israel isn’t – and which you aren’t.
You’re fighting against a horrible government, which must be fought because it is destroying the fabric of society with terrifying speed. It is demolishing our good lives, our flourishing economy, science, culture, the justice system and also the most sophisticated military in the world. Shame, shame, shame. It must be fought; and when you have time, fight for democracy.