(Tablet) Gil Troy - Many Americans are claiming that Israeli democracy is doomed. No democracy is problem-free, but it is self-defeating to hear every governmental initiative you dislike as liberty's death knell. While there is much to debate about Israel's judicial system, reports of the death of Israeli democracy are highly exaggerated. Israel is doing just about as well as can be expected on the democracy front. Israel's ever-expanding unwritten constitution, guaranteeing more and more rights to more and more people while sustaining a strong sense of national community, is stronger than ever. The anti-Netanyahu assault began after his Nov. 1 victory with hysterical cries that a democratic election result threatened democracy. Shouting repeatedly that democracy is in danger stresses the body politic - and individual citizens. It drives people nuts. Such polarization makes it harder to achieve the kind of compromise that Israel requires, and that all healthy democracies seek. The educational philosopher Parker Palmer, in his 2011 book, Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit, teaches that a healthy democracy needs five interlocked habits. Citizens must understand "that we are all in this together." We need to appreciate "the value of 'otherness,'" respecting genuine diversity of thought, of behavior, of political philosophy - as well as of tribe, or color, or heritage. We need to be able to juggle contradictions and cope with the messiness of life. Leveraging our rights, we need "a sense of personal voice and agency" - Natan Sharansky and Ron Dermer call this the Town Square Test: Namely, can you denounce the government in public freely, without being punished? Finally, Palmer notes, healthy citizens need the "capacity to create community." Israelis still live in a small, intimate society that runs on trust. Israel has held five free and fair elections in three years, followed repeatedly by peaceful transitions. The ethereal threads keeping Israelis more or less together are a national treasure that should be actively nurtured, not sabotaged. The writer is a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University.
2023-02-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive