Belman to Gordon: I am glad you wrote this article and was more than happy to post it.
Nevertheless I don’t agree with everything in it.
I take the position that there is no conflict between the two in most instances, but if I had to choose which was more important I would choose the Jewish character.
I can think of instances where there is a conflict such as JNF land that was purchased with Jewish money for Jews. Because these lands are administered by the Israel Land Authority the courts say that the lands must be made available to both. I say, nothing doing.
Furthermore, when the High Court considers legislation using the measuring stick of “dignity” as the only criteria, it often rules against particularistic legislation. It is important that another value be considered and that is the desire to preserve the Jewish nature of the state. Some argue, like Joel Golovensky that these values should be given equal weight. I disagree, so does Caroline Glick. The courts are predisposed to giving more weight to the value of “dignity”. I on the other hand want being a Jewish state to be the supreme value.
The proportion of Jews who value both equally has plunged, due to years of being told it’s either-or
By Evelyn Gordon
The 2014 edition of the Israeli Democracy Index, released last week, offers both encouraging and disturbing findings. The latter include a dramatic drop over the last five years, from 48.1% to 24.5%, in the proportion of Jews who accord equal weight to Israel’s Jewish and democratic characters. Though the figure has declined steadily since 2010, last year was the first time “both equally” failed to win a plurality. In fact, it dropped to last place, behind both those who prioritize Israel’s Jewish character (38.9%) and those who prioritize its democratic character (33.5%).
In part, this is because the Israel Democracy Institute’s researchers deliberately worded the question to minimize the number of people choosing “both equally.” The question asked was, “Israel is defined as both a Jewish and a democratic state. Which part of this definition is more important to you personally?” Thus respondents weren’t given the option of “both equally”; they were instructed to choose either Jewish or democratic, and were recorded as valuing both traits equally only if they volunteered that view despite it not being listed. Had “both equally” been offered as an option, more people would certainly have chosen it.
Yet the question’s phrasing reflects a far broader problem: Like the IDI researchers, a growing swathe of Israel’s Left increasingly insists that Israel can’t be both Jewish and democratic; it has to prioritize one or the other. And by so doing, the left is forcing people to choose.
An excellent example of the current left-wing bon ton appeared in Haaretz last month. In a 5,000-word article, Hebrew University sociology professor Eva Illouz dissected what she considers the old Left’s failings, including its definition of Israeli democracy “as both particularistic, designed for Jews, and universalist, granting equal rights to all its citizens.” This might have been justified initially, when Israel served as a refuge state for Jews, Illouz wrote, but “the very essential core of democracy … consists of the inculcation and institutionalization of universalism. All democracies have universalist social covenants – that is, covenants that enable in principle equality before the law of all their citizens … and in most liberal countries of the world, that universalism has become stronger with time.”
In point of fact, Illouz is wrong; many democracies see no contradiction between particularism and universalism. For instance, as Prof. Eugene Kontorovich noted in The Washington Post last month, seven EU states, including Latvia and Slovakia, “have constitutional ‘nationhood’ provisions, which typically speak of the state as being the national home and locus of self-determination for the country’s majority ethnic group,” while seven others, including Iceland and Greece, have established religions. And as professors Alexander Yakobsen and Amnon Rubinstein noted in a 2009 study, numerous European countries have laws that, like Israel’s Law of Return, grant “privileged access to rights of residence and immigration for ethnic-cultural kin groups,” including Germany, Ireland, Finland, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia.
Nevertheless, the view that Israel’s Jewish identity somehow contradicts its democratic nature has become almost obligatory among a vocal segment of Israel’s left-wing intelligentsia. And after hearing this view endlessly reiterated by journalists, academics and politicians, ordinary Israelis have increasingly come to believe, as the IDI poll shows, that they indeed have to choose.
The Left wants Israelis to prioritize “democratic” over “Jewish,” and indeed, the proportion that does so has almost doubled since 2010, from 17.0% to 33.5%. But the proportion that prioritizes Israel’s Jewish character also grew, albeit more slowly (from 32.4% to 38.9%). Thus the Left’s gains came entirely from the shrinking pool of those who value both equally.
In short, by demanding that people choose, the Left has destroyed the old consensus that viewed Israel’s Jewish and democratic values as mutually compatible and equally vital. Now, many Israelis have been convinced these values conflict, requiring one to be elevated above the other. And that creates a growing risk of all-out kulturkampf between those who favor Israel’s Jewishness and those who favor its democracy.
In such a battle, everyone would lose. But the people likely to lose most are precisely those doing their best to provoke it – the leftists who, overwhelmingly (72.1%), prioritize Israel’s democracy.
First, the demographics are against them. According to the survey, large majorities of “haredi,” “religious” and “traditional religious” respondents prioritized Israel’s Jewish character, as did a plurality of “traditional nonreligious” respondents. Only among the secular did a majority prioritize Israel’s democratic character. But thanks to higher fertility rates, the first three groups are all growing faster than the secular population – and as noted above, once people have decided to prioritize Judaism, very few switch to prioritizing democracy.
Yet even if, by some demographic miracle, the left did win, it would be a pyrrhic victory – because if Israel isn’t a Jewish state, it has no reason to exist at all. There’s no compelling argument for living in Israel, with its hostile neighbors, wars, terror attacks, mandatory conscription and high cost of living, if all you want is a Western democracy indistinguishable from any other; many Western countries still offer excellent quality of life. Israel’s unique attraction is the fact that it’s a Jewish democracy, the only place in the world where the Jewish people can determine their own fate. And it wouldn’t long survive the loss of that uniqueness.
Thus anyone who truly cares about Israeli democracy should stop demanding that people choose between the state’s Jewish and democratic characters and instead promote a return to the old consensus that both are equally important. Being both Jewish and democratic is no more oxymoronic than being Latvian and democratic or Slovak and democratic. And unlike the doomed effort to elevate democracy over Judaism, trying to persuade Israelis to return to valuing both equally has a good chance of succeeding: After all, it’s what most Israelis always preferred, until the Left convinced them it was impossible.
The IDI, as a self-proclaimed champion of “strengthening Israeli democracy,” should lead the way by offering a “both equally” option in this year’s survey instead of insisting on an either-or choice between “Jewish” and “democratic.” It might be pleasantly surprised at the results.
yamit82 Said:
I dont see that legally… the treaty between Jordan and Israel clearly state borders at the Jordan river with no mention in that treaty of pal claims. I had this talk with Ted but he never followed through. he said that Jordan had assigned its rights to the PLO but I disagreed and asked for the legal enforceable document which so stated that fact. it was an announcement in a speech and Jordan never followed through by affirming the act of assignment in its treaty with Israel. therefore it has the legal value of a PR announcement. furthermore, even if there was a document Israel would have to concur in the assignment as it would have substantially changed the nature of the agreement as Israel agreed with a state who could enforce its obligations and the PLO was not a state. I think this assignment to the PLO is pure rubbish from a legal point of view. the world has recognized the treaty which clearly states Israels border at the JOrdan and makes no mention of any land to the pals. I think Jordan intentionally did it this way to make it a meaningless unenforceable gesture demonstrating its real intention to run off and leave the PLO in a pile of BS.
NO ONE HAS PRESENTED A LEGAL ENFORCEABLE DOCUMENT WHICH CONTRADICTS THE PEACE TREATY BORDERS. Furthermore, 242 is irrelevant, wrt the west bank, and superseded by the Israel Jordan treaty as withdrawal was only relevant because it was an agreement between the parties as a resolution of the conflict AND the borders. This has already been resolved by the treaty and the PLO were not a party with any land rights to the agreement of 242. the agreement of borders between Israel and Jordan demonstrate the resolution of 242 wrt the west bank, the conflict over the land and the borders. Any obligation of Israel to withdraw from the west bank has been resolved and superseded by the respective parties in the conflict by treaty. There was no other legal party to that agreement in dispute over the west bank.
ITS A BIG FAT HOAX, A POT OF BALONEY, A PILE OF BS.
@ bernard ross:
It’s my understanding that none on our high court are international law proficient. I’s also comon sense and logical that if you refuse to annex then it’s not yours. Based also on the different agreement and treaties Israel has signed since 67 it obvious that It’s apparent that except for security concerns Israel has given up any claims to most of Y&S and Eastern parts of Jerusalem.
a dunce from the word go: Israel STILL serves as a refuge state for Jews, both inside and outside Israel. Does this fool believe that Jews in Israel have become exempt from the need for refuge? It applies as much to Jews inside Israel as well as those outside.
@ yamit82:
I assume that this follows from Israels position of not annexing, leaving only occupation. However, I wonder if need be considered legally as belligerent occupation as there is another legal directive attacked to this piece of land which relates to the prime directive to “facilitate immigration and close settlement of the Jewish people”. therefore, no matter who is in control the directive and its acquired rights are still obligatory and if Israel acted to protect, facilitate and encourage those rights it would be because the last 2 occupiers breached and obstructed those rights illegally. Israel may be in occupation, even if it does not seek sovereignty, in order to protect the rights of those with the greatest legal interest in that land. By obstructing those rights Israel is indeed in belligerent occupation. Israel could maintain the occupation, not annex nor seek sovereignty but remain to protect Jewish rights as declared in International law and treaty and never expired nor rescinded. The UK, Jordan and the UN did not protect these acquired and derived rights and therefore only Israel can do the job…. as a friendly occupant, a trustee. Russia occupies Ukraine to protect russian rights.
Belman
B. The Normative Outline in the Supreme Court’s Caselaw
1. Belligerent Occupation
14. The Judea and Samaria areas are held by the State of Israel in belligerent occupation. The long arm of the state in the area is the military commander. He is not the sovereign in the territory held in belligerent occupation (see The Beit Sourik Case, at p. 832). His power is granted him by public international law regarding belligerent occupation. The legal meaning of this view is twofold: first, Israeli law does not apply in these areas. They have not been “annexed” to Israel. Second, the legal regime which applies in these areas is determined by public international law regarding belligerent occupation (see HCJ 1661/05 The Gaza Coast Regional Council v. The Knesset et al. (yet unpublished, paragraph 3 of the opinion of the Court; hereinafter – The Gaza Coast Regional Council Case). In the center of this public international law stand the Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907 (hereinafter – The Hague Regulations). These regulations are a reflection of customary international law. The law of belligerent occupation is also laid out in IV Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War 1949 (hereinafter – the Fourth Geneva Convention). The State of Israel has declared that it practices the humanitarian parts of this convention. In light of that declaration on the part of the government of Israel, we see no need to reexamine the government’s position. We are aware that the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice determined that The Fourth Geneva Convention applies in the Judea and Samaria area, and that its application is not conditional upon the willingness of the State of Israel to uphold its provisions. As mentioned, seeing as the government of Israel accepts that the humanitarian aspects of The Fourth Geneva Convention apply in the area, we are not of the opinion that we must take a stand on that issue in the petition before us. In addition to those two sources of international law, there is a third source of law which applies to the State of Israel’s belligerent occupation. That third source is the basic principles of Israeli administrative law, which is law regarding the use of a public official’s governing power. These principles include, inter alia, rules of substantive and procedural fairness, the duty to act reasonably, and rules of proportionality. “Indeed, every Israeli soldier carries in his pack the rules of customary public international law regarding the law of war, and the fundamental rules of Israeli administrative law” (HCJ 393/82 Jami’at Ascan el-Malmun el-Mahdudeh el-Masauliyeh, Communal Society Registered at the Judea and Samaria Area Headquarters v. The Commander of IDF Forces in the Judea and Samaria Area, 37(4) P.D. 785, 810; hereinafter The Jami’at Ascan Case).
http://elyon1.court.gov.il/Files_ENG/04/570/079/a14/04079570.a14.htm